IVM is part of a consortium of 14 research institutions implementing the MOVE project, to facilitate mapping and assessing the state of ecosystems and their services (MAES) in Europe’s Outermost Regions (ORs) and Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs). MOVE is being funded by the DG Environment of the European Commission to support the implementation of Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy. MAES is important for the advancement of biodiversity objectives, and also to inform the development and implementation of related policies, on water, climate, agriculture, forest, and regional planning. EU ORs and OCTs are located at distance from continental Europe but their richness in biodiversity is of utmost importance for EU Member States, and therefore, special attention is dedicated to them within MAES through the MOVE project.
MOVE aims to:
- Build a collaborative network of local agents from a significant number of ORs and OCTs and mainland Europe teams,
- Engage stakeholders in identifying local priorities for MAES (Mapping and Assessing the state of Ecosystems and their Services) and
- Collaborate in the development of case studies addressing those priorities.
MOVE’s expected results include:
- An assessment of the state of the art of MAES in the participating regions
- A list of stakeholders mapped onto the MAES conceptual framework
- Creation of personal links, communication tools, guidelines and a Strategic Plan for the development of MAES in the European Overseas
Within the MOVE consortium, IVM and Wolfs Company will jointly contribute to the stakeholders’ engagement, MAES state of the art assessment and prioritization of project contributions in some of the Dutch Overseas Countries and Territories. Moreover, IVM conducted a case study on the value of ecosystem services in the Caribbean island, St Maarten.
Website: https://moveproject.eu