But to protect and maintain – and maybe even restore – biodiversity in Flanders, these sources have to be monitored in detail, and in real time. In a nutshell: Flanders needs a huge magnifying glass that constantly monitors biodiversity, objectively and without too much human interference.

The Flemish Institute for Nature and Forest Research (Inbo) and the Flemish Institute of the Sea (Vliz), both agencies of the Flemish government, are putting the finishing touches to such a high-tech monitoring system. Over the next five years, several automatic and semi-automatic detection systems will be rolled out, each monitoring a different aspect of biodiversity.

The initiative is part of a pan-European project called Lifewatch, part of the European Strategic Forum for Research Infrastructures (Esfri). “It’s the first time an Esfri grant has been allocated to a project with a multiple-country infrastructure,” says Jurgen Tack, administrator-general of Inbo. “The history of Lifewatch goes back to 2002, when we urged the European Commission to develop a pan-European initiative to map and protect the biodiversity on the continent.”

Saving valuable time

At the core of Lifewatch is automatic and semi-automatic monitoring. “With this approach, we will have more control over everything,” explains Tack. “Currently the ecological value of every parcel of land in Flanders is calculated by a team of 25 civil servants, who visit and check the parcels in person. Because it’s so time-consuming, some valuations are already more than 12 years old.”

Miniature and unmanned aircraft will make their work easier, by flying over Flemish territory and scanning the land. Tack: “These planes look like drones, except they are armed with a camera and a detection system that automatically recognises different types of vegetation, trees and individual plants. We believe these planes can make a reliable assessment of the biodiversity of a terrain.” Another high-tech detection system that is part of Lifewatch is an automatic bird radar. The system will be used to map migration routes in Flanders – for example of ducks and geese flying overhead. This information is important ecologically and economically.

“Investors in wind energy like to put their windmills in straight trajectories, preferably along canals, highways and railway lines,” explains Tack. “But birds also use these landmarks to direct themselves south or north.”

Currently these migration routes are – literally – spotted and tracked by volunteers, who are concerned that the construction of windmills on these routes will interfere with the birds’ natural migration. “That creates tensions with the constructors of windmills because open space in Flanders is scarce,” continues Tack. “With the bird radar, we will be able to tell exactly where birds are flying so that we can protect them while optimising opportunities for windmill construction.”

The bird radar was developed by the Dutch company Robin Radar Systems as a tool to map migration precisely. “Thanks to these developments, we will be able to spot every bird within a distance of 10 kilometres,” says Tack. “We will also be able to tell how high and how fast the birds fly.”

But the most striking feature of the radar is its ability to recognise individual species, without any help from a bird watcher. “Our radar measures the frequency of the wing beats, which is unique for every species.”

Global reputation

During Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters’ recent economic mission to Canada, a team from Inbo demonstrated the possibilities of the bird radar to their Canadian colleagues. It was a success: The Canadians are going to use Flemish know-how to help with the construction of 700 windmills near Vancouver. After its mission in Canada, the radar will return to Flanders.

“There are a lot of applications for windmills in, for example, the harbour area,” says Tack. “But, of course, the area is also very rich in bird life, and large areas are thus currently unavailable for windmills. Our radar will investigate how we can reduce these areas, without affecting bird habitat or migration routes.”

The Lifewatch project will gather as much information as possible about biodiversity in Flanders. But that’s not the final goal. Based on historical and future data, researchers will be able to make accurate prediction models about biodiversity in Flanders. These predictions can influence – just like daily weather reports do – many economic activities: transport, the planning of infrastructure, fishery, tourism, agriculture and more.

One particular prediction model being developed at Vliz is a “seabird radar” – similar to the rainfall radar that tells people when to take their umbrella. Despite what the name might suggest, this project has nothing to do with the bird radar above. Instead, researchers from Vliz will monitor the presence of plankton in the North Sea using sensors attached to several buoys along the Flemish coast. Based on that information, they will be able to predict when (and exactly where) you will find seabirds at the coast.

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