A transparent EO-based monitoring system for biodiversity and ecosystem restoration (RestorEO)

The European Commission's Biodiversity Strategy 2030 aims to steer the EU's biodiversity onto a path of recovery by 2030. Among others, this goal is to be reached by restoration goals summarised under the so-called “Nature Restoration Law”. In anticipation, E.C.O. teamed up for this project (which is being funded by the Austrian agency for promotion of research, technology and innovation) with the University of Graz (consortium leadership), Joanneum Research GmbH and the Federal Environmental Agency, working on area and quantitative monitoring of the degradation status / integrity of vital ecosystems. In a first step, grasslands, forests and wetlands were defined as priority ecosystems. Central to making this monitoring project a success is the integration of comprehensive remote sensing data with the highest possible temporal and spatial resolution. They are combined with reference mapping and provide a well-founded and area-wide planning basis for restoration projects.