Program Coordinator: Arnold van Vliet
The total number of flora and fauna species on earth is decreasing rapidly due to global pressures such as population growth, economic development and climate change. To address this issue, FSD is involved in various programs that monitor and analyse the impacts of climate change on plants and animals. We also try to determine how the ecological changes impact society and how society can adapt to these changes. Furthermore, we actively communicate about our findings. They include the following projects: Nature’s Calendar Activities and results of Nature’s Calendar Expansion of the monitoring programme: During the project period more plants and animals were added to the observation programme. In addition to an increase in the number of species, we also aim to recruit as many volunteers as possible to send in observations. Scientific analysis: The participating researchers are working on a number of questions, including:
Feeding observations and results back to the target groups: This includes the following activities:
Development of an educational programme: Nature’s Calendar has teaching material available which supplements primary and secondary school education with information on the relation between nature and climate change. Under this work package, assignments are being prepared on topics within ecology, agriculture and public health in relation to climate change. Pupils make their own observations and analyse them. Nature’s Calendar in various sectors: The Nature’s Calendar project focuses on four socio-economic sectors. Agriculture, human health (hay fever, ticks and Lyme disease and Oak processionary Caterpilar), nature management and gardening. Together with stakeholders a selection of plants and animals is made to be included in the monitoring programme. We gather available historic phenological observations with which we analyse the relation between changes in weather and climate on the timing of relevant life cycle events. Based on this information we determine what the (potential) consequences of changes in climate are for the sector. More specifically we look at the ways the different stakeholders in these sectors should or could respond to the phenological changes.
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