Two awards for biodiversity research in Leiden
From more natural beaches to research on how peace advances biodiversity. Two Leiden research projects have been awarded funding from the European Biodiversa+ partnership. These are grants for interdisciplinary research on restoring biodiversity.
Restoring biodiversity is a key ambition of the EU, and its Biodiversa+ programme is one of the ways it is reversing biodiversity loss. In this fourth Biodiversa+ call, 35 projects have received funding, with a total budget of 40 million euros. The Dutch Research Council (NWO) makes a substantial financial contribution to the programme.
The two projects with a Leiden applicant are:
Jan Macher (Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML))
TIDELINES examines how beach management can protect biodiversity while maintaining important services such as recreation and coastal protection. Sandy beaches connect land and sea and support tourism, fisheries and coastal safety. However, many municipalities mechanically groom beaches to improve their appearance, which often means removing ‘wrack’, the washed-up seaweed and seagrass that accumulates along the shore.
Although commonly seen as waste, wrack is important for beach food webs, provides shelter and feeding habitat for animals, and influences sand dynamics and dune growth. Managers therefore face a practical question: when should wrack be retained, relocated, buried or removed to balance biodiversity, coastal resilience and recreation?
Across six model regions (Italy, Spain, South Africa, Denmark, Brazil and the Netherlands), TIDELINES will generate biodiversity, ecological and social data and develop best-practice protocols. The researchers will study wrack-associated biodiversity using an integrated approach that combines morphological and DNA-based methods, and they will measure key nutrient and carbon processes linked to wrack. In parallel, they will interview stakeholders and analyse governance to understand how wrack-related decisions are made and where change is possible. Through workshops and stakeholder dialogues, they will develop practical, locally adapted strategies with managers and communities. TIDELINES will therefore support the implementation of sustainable wrack management that supports both biodiversity goals and local needs.
Aisa Manlosa (Leiden University College)
The South China Sea (also known as the West Philippine Sea) is a contested area, with several Asian countries laying claim to parts of it. At a broader scale, the situation is defined by geopolitical tensions as countries dispute territorial ownership. At the local scale, people’s livelihoods are affected. For example, fishers from the Philippines are losing access to fishing grounds on which their livelihoods, income and food security depend. Biodiversity is also being lost due to activities such as infrastructure construction in the area.
In the Peace and Conservation of Ecology at Disputed Seas (PaCE) project, Leiden University has partnered with the National Taiwan Ocean University and the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development to explore the role of science diplomacy in fostering peace to advance both biodiversity conservation and human well-being. The researchers will examine multi-scalar interdependencies between societies and biodiversity, assess the extent to which biodiversity is interconnected with geopolitical conflict, and examine how peace can be leveraged for transformative change. Over 36 months, they will closely collaborate with rights holders and stakeholders in various countries to establish networks.