MAMBO: Modern approaches to the monitoring of biodiversity

Monitoring wildlife is spatially and temporally fragmented, taxonomically biased, and lacks integration in Europe. All this prevents the implementation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Birds and Habitats Directives. The EU-funded MAMBO (Modern Approaches to the Monitoring of BiOdiversity) project will develop, test, and implement new tools for the cost-effective monitoring of conservation status and ecological requirements of protected species and habitats. MAMBO will combine the technical expertise of computer science, remote sensing, social science expertise on human-technology interactions, environmental economy, citizen science, and biological expertise on species, ecology, and conservation biology. The project will engage stakeholders in identifying biodiversity monitoring needs and investigate the establishment of a virtual lab to automate workflow deployment and efficient computing of the vast data streams.

The MAMBO kick-off meeting was held in the city of Aarhus, Denmark, and coordinated by Aarhus University. This project aims to develop, test and implement cutting-edge technology for species and habitat monitoring in the EU. MAMBO is based on involving stakeholders, exchanging knowledge, and integrating new technologies with already-existing research infrastructures.is based on information sharing and stakeholder participation. This will contribute to better monitoring programs for species and habitats, and to improve control over protected sites and species.

Ecostack Innovations (Malta) is a partner within the project along with Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Pensoft (Bulgaria), INRIA (France), AU (Denmark), UFZ (Germany), CIRAD (France), and VU (The Netherlands). The partners in this project bring together experts from different areas, including remote sensing, computer science, ecology, social science, among others. 

At Ecostack Innovations, we are working on co-developing innovative technologies and solutions to environmental monitoring while working with practitioners within the business and policy sectors to ensure that these are adapted to the needs of our stakeholders. As a partner within the MAMBO project, Ecostack Innovations will contribute to the technology development, as well as hosting a demo site in Malta.