news

News from the project

Final Conference

Save the Date!
We are thrilled to announce the upcoming closing event for NewLife4Drylands. After years
of hard work, dedication, and countless milestones achieved, it is time to celebrate together.
Join us on the 14 th till the 16 th of May, at the Botanical Garden of Rome, as we
commemorate the successful culmination of our project. This event promises to be a
memorable occasion filled with reflection, appreciation, valuable results, future (After-LIFE
era and not only!) and, of course, a touch of celebration!
Mark your calendars, spread the word, and stay tuned for more details to follow. We
can’t wait to share this special moment with all of you!
Save the date and let’s make this closing event one to remember! 

The programme

The link to register Here

Monalisa Project has been approved

The NEWLife4Drylands consortium participated and obtained funding for the Monalisa project.
The project MONALISA (MONitoring and Assessing prevention and restoration solutions to combat desertification in LIving labs for achieving Soil heAlth), coordinated by the NRD centre and specifically by Prof. Giovanna SEDDAIU, lecturer at the Department of Agriculture, has been financed by the Horizon Europe programme on a call of the European Soil Mission on the theme “Desertification and Land degradation”.
The project has 20 partners and a total budget of EUR 7 million; it will last 48 months, probably starting in September 2024.
The primary goal of the project is to demonstrate socio-economic and environmental effectiveness and promote the adoption of innovative and context-specific solutions across a range of site-specific situations in Europe and the Mediterranean basin (six study areas in Italy, Spain, Greece, Tunisia, and Palestine) to prevent and mitigate soil degradation and desertification processes. Researchers from 8 European countries (Italy, Spain, Greece, France, Romania, Serbia, Switzerland, Denmark) and 2 non-European countries (Palestine and Tunisia) are participating in the project.

    Monalisa Project has been approved

    The NEWLife4Drylands consortium participated and obtained funding for the Monalisa project.
    The project MONALISA (MONitoring and Assessing prevention and restoration solutions to combat desertification in LIving labs for achieving Soil heAlth), coordinated by the NRD centre and specifically by Prof. Giovanna SEDDAIU, lecturer at the Department of Agriculture, has been financed by the Horizon Europe programme on a call of the European Soil Mission on the theme “Desertification and Land degradation”.
    The project has 20 partners and a total budget of EUR 7 million; it will last 48 months, probably starting in September 2024.
    The primary goal of the project is to demonstrate socio-economic and environmental effectiveness and promote the adoption of innovative and context-specific solutions across a range of site-specific situations in Europe and the Mediterranean basin (six study areas in Italy, Spain, Greece, Tunisia, and Palestine) to prevent and mitigate soil degradation and desertification processes. Researchers from 8 European countries (Italy, Spain, Greece, France, Romania, Serbia, Switzerland, Denmark) and 2 non-European countries (Palestine and Tunisia) are participating in the project.

      El Bruc meeting

      November 12-15, a meeting of the NewLIFE4Drylands project (Nature-based solutions determined by Remote Sensing Techniques 🔭 ) aiming for a New LIFE Project for Drylands was successfully held.

      The subject of discussion, among the experts from the three countries (Italy, Greece, Spain), was:
      🐑the good practices developed in these projects (reducing forest fire risk through grazing (LIFE Montserat)
      🌿 the use of cocoon in reforestation (LIFE The Green)
      Finally, the use of techniques 🔨☁️that collect water from fog to irrigate young trees in case of tree planting (LIFE NIEBLAS)🐌 🌳

        Ecomondo 2023

        During the event “Τhe national session of the second edition of the “States General of Soil”  organized by Re Soil Foundation, EU Science Hub – Joint Research Centre, ISPRA and the #Ecomondo Scientific Committee, held on 9 November 2023, from 14:30 to 17:00, the Italian version of the Global Land Outlook 2 (GLO2) Summary for Policy makers, a publication of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) edited by #ISPRA with the support of the project (https://www.newlife4drylands.eu/language/en/) dedicated to nature-based solutions for the recovery of degraded and desertified soils, coordinated by #CNR-IIA and with the collaboration of #ISPRA.

          EGU23 General Assembly 

          The Consortium presented main outcomes oft the project at EGU23 held in Vienna, Austria & Online on 23–28 April 2023:

          • Dry grassland restoration in Mediterranean degraded lands: the NewLife4Drylands pilot case in Alta Murgia Rocco Labadessa, Luigi Forte, Serena D’Ambrogi, Paolo Mazzetti, Laura Tomassetti, Cristina Tarantino
          • A Decision Support Tool based on field and Earth observation to support restoration activities in degraded land based on Newlife4drylands Pilot Sites – Assennato, Francesca ; Alessi, Nicola; Smiraglia, Daniela ; Riitano, Nicola ; Labadessa, Rocco ; Tarantino, Cristina
          • Land degradation estimation by SDG 15.3.1 computed at the local scale: the case of the six Mediterranean study sites of the NewLife4Drylands project – Tarantino, Cristina ; Vicario, Saverio ; Adamo, Maria ; Labadessa, Rocco ; Assennato, Francesca ; Alessi, Nicola ; Riitano, Nicola ; Vitale, Marcello ; Perez, Martina ; Domingo-Marimon, Cristina ; Montero, Pau ; Carabassa, Vicenc

          The GREEN FUND co-finances the

          NewLife4Drylands project

          through financing UoC – NHMC and HSPN in 2023

          The GREEN FUND with its Board Decision No. 265.10/2023/21.06.2023 co-finances the LIFE20 PRE/IT/000007 – NewLife4Drylands project for year 2023 with the total amount of €6,000.00. According to the aforementioned decision, co-financing totaling to €6,000.00 is provided to the associated beneficiary Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature (HSPN).

          SERE Conference 2022

          El Bruc, one of the case study areas of the project, is participating in SERE 2022 Conference

          The poster “Monitoring passive restoration of burned lands through remote sensing tools
          Montero, Pau. CREAF, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona” has been presented.

          Scientific Trekking ‘Nature walk in the Palo Laziale forest: an open-air laboratory

          On 9 September 2022, ISPRA promoted an interesting scientific trekking together with La Sapienza University and the CNR. The event took place in the framework of the European Researchers’ Night 2022, Science Together, NET Project, LIFE NewLIFE4Drylands Project.

          EGU22 – General Assembly 

          The Consortium have been participated to the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly – Vienna, Austria & Online, 23–28 April 2023. Three abstracts were accepted and two contributions were also highlighted by the session conveners:

          • Highlight – A Decision Support Tool based on field and Earth observation to support restoration activities in degraded land based on Newlife4drylands Pilot Sites – Francesca Assennato, Nicola Alessi, Daniela Smiraglia, Nicola Riitano, Rocco Labadessa, and Cristina Tarantino
          • Highlight – Dry grassland restoration in Mediterranean degraded lands: the NewLife4Drylands pilot case in Alta Murgia – Rocco Labadessa, Luigi Forte, Serena D’Ambrogi, Paolo Mazzetti, Laura Tomassetti, and Cristina Tarantino
          • Land degradation estimation by SDG 15.3.1 computed at the local scale: the case of the six Mediterranean study sites of the NewLife4Drylands project – Cristina Tarantino, Saverio Vicario, Maria Adamo, Rocco Labadessa, Francesca Assennato, Nicola Alessi, Nicola Riitano, Marcello Vitale, Martina Perez, Cristina Domingo-Marimon, Pau Montero, and Vicenc Carabassa

          Second Monitor visit and Alta Murgia field trip

           

          The annual visit of the project monitor and desk officer of the NewLife4Drylands project was held on 21 June 2022 in Bari (Italy).

          On 22 of June 2022 a Field Trip to the Alta Murgia Park was organised for illustrate the environmental problems, as processes of habitat degradation, fragmentation and biotic contamination from which it is affected of Alta Murgia case study. Also, the first activity conduced in Masseria Modesti for testing and comparison of different methodologies for the restoration of dry grasslands, which can be traced back to habitats of Community interest within the meaning of Directive 92/43/EEC has been illustrated to Consortium, Project monitor and desk officer.

          Networking meeting with LIFE PRIMED Project

           

          9-11 marzo 2022 – We discuss remote sensing technics for monitoring of habitats in the networking meeting in the framework of #lifeprimed project

          #life

          The GREEN FUND co-finances the

          NewLife4Drylands project

          through financing UoC – NHMC and HSPN in 2022

          The GREEN FUND with its Board Decision No. 242.4/2022/29.06.2022 co-finances the LIFE20 PRE/IT/000007 – NewLife4Drylands project for year 2022 with the total amount of €20,000.00. According to the aforementioned decision, co-financing totaling to €10,000.00 is provided to the University of Crete – Natural History Museum of Crete (UoC – NHMC), and also the amount of €10,000.00 is provided to the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature (HSPN).

          CRIC21 – Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention

          Representatives of ISPRA participated in CRIC 21

          CRIC 21, the twenty-first session of the Committee for Review of the Implementation of the Convention, subsidiary body of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), will take place from 13 to 17 November in Samarkand (Uzbekistan). The event will be attended by delegations from 197 countries that have signed the Convention, including Italy which has been a signatory to the UNCCD since 1994, as well as representatives of the private sector and civil society.

          During CRIC 21, countries will review the results of the assessment of the implementation of the UNCCD, under the UNCCD strategic framework 2018-2030, to provide targeted recommendations on strategic objectives that the next COP may include in its decisions.

          Updates will also be presented on specific activities that support countries in achieving voluntary targets on Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), and in the following days the two intergovernmental groups will meet, one of which, the Intergovernmental Working Group on drought, has among its members an ISPRA representative.

          An event on Sand and Dust Storms will also be organized by the Government of Uzbekistan under the aegis of CRIC 21, and the third Gender Caucus. 

           We presented the project in EGU21

          The Consortium have been partecipated to the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly – Vienna, Austria & Online,  19–30 April 2021 and has been presented the project.

          The EGU General Assembly 2021 meeting has included 18,172 scientists from 135 countries, attending 13,643 live presentations in 642 scientific sessions

          The GREEN FUND co-finances the

          NewLife4Drylands project

          through financing UoC – NHMC and HSPN in 2021

           

          The GREEN FUND with its Board Decision No. 212.4.3/2021/26.05.2021 co-finances the LIFE20 PRE/IT/000007 – NewLife4Drylands project for year 2021 with the total amount of €20,000.00. According to the aforementioned decision, co-financing totaling to €10,000.00 is provided to the University of Crete – Natural History Museum of Crete (UoC – NHMC), and also the amount of €10,000.00 is provided to the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature (HSPN).

          Kickoff meeting of the NewLife4Drylands LIFE Preparatory Project

          The Kickoff meeting of the NewLife4Drylands project (Remote sensing oriented nature based solutions towards a NEW LIFE FOR DRYLANDS) was successfully held, virtually, on January 21-22, 2021.The coordinating beneficiary of the project is the National Research Council...

          The LIFE20 PRE/IT/000007 project is funded at a percentage of 60% from the LIFE financial instrument “LIFE Preparatory project – Programme for the Environment and Climate Action” of the European Commission.

          The GREEN FUND co-finances the NewLife4Drylands project for 2021, 2022 and 2023 through financing the University of Crete – Natural History Museum of Crete and the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature partners with the total amount of €52,000.00.