Biodiversity strategy - Ecosystem conservation and restoration’

How can our lab help you reach the Green Deal goals?

How do global environmental changes such as land-use change, climate change, and environmental pollution affect the biodiversity and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems? And what are the consequences for ecosystem management and the potential to deliver services to society? These key research questions are addressed by the Forest & Nature Lab and are of direct relevance to the EU’s commitments to address the main causes and consequences of biodiversity loss.

In addition to studying how and why biodiversity is changing, the Lab also focuses on appropriate ecological techniques to restore degraded terrestrial ecosystems more effectively. This is a very topical theme. The United Nations, for instance, declared 2021 – 2030 the ‘decade on Ecosystem restoration’ and has the ambition to draw together scientific research and political support to massively scale up the restoration of degraded and destroyed ecosystems.

About our lab

The Forest & Nature Lab studies the interactions between the biodiversity, the ecological processes, and structure of terrestrial ecosystems. Focus is on temperate forests and semi-natural grasslands, but we are also active in other systems (urban, agro) and biomes. We have a strong ambition to link our research to topical questions in ecosystem management and environmental policy.

Contact

Prof. Lander Baeten