For the first time, the parties involved in EXBIO are meeting in Gothenburg. Led by Göteborg Botanic Garden, participants will gather on March 12th and 13th to commence their work.
The project encompasses eight partners from five countries along the North Sea coast: the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. Together, they will tackle biodiversity from various perspectives.
The initiative stems from the alarming extent of land in the countries around the North Sea, as in the rest of Europe, that requires restoration – and the necessity to re-establish healthy ecosystems with high biodiversity that can better withstand climate changes. The project will primarily focus on three areas with eight pilot and demonstration projects, one strategy and a Transnational Action:
- Restoration of grasslands to test different restoration methods, particularly to allow seeds already in the soil an opportunity to germinate and for other plants to set and spread seeds.
- Development of local seed mixes that will have different purposes and be effective in various ecosystems, under different conditions.
- Countering so-called "plant blindness," which means people do not see and appreciate the plants in nature. Here, awareness of the diversity of the plant world in people's immediate environment will be raised. Citizen science is also an important part of the effort.
EXPBIO aligns with the EU's Nature Restoration Law decided in the summer of 2023. It mandates that 30% of the North Sea region's land area should be restored and protected by 2030. This requires knowledge of restoration methods and functional seed mixes that are locally adapted to different regions within the North Sea area.
The Gothenburg Botanic Garden's principal is the Västra Götaland Region, and Madeleine Jonsson (MP), chair of the Environment and Regional Development Committee, will open the two day conference.
"We are proud that the Botanic Garden is leading such a significant project, which will be an important part of the Västra Götaland Region's work with biodiversity. It will be exciting to meet everyone in the project and exchange experiences."
Helen Ekvall, educator at the Botanic Garden and one of those now working with EXBIO, initiated the project So Wild! four years ago, where thousands of school children sow wildflower meadows around the region each year.
"Plant blindness is a term that is heard increasingly often. It represents a tendency not to notice or value the plants we humans have around us. It is often said that we are only willing to protect what we have knowledge of and also have a name for. As today's children grow up in an increasingly urbanized world, their relationship with nature is not a given. I hope that with joint efforts in the project, we can help remedy this lack of knowledge, both among children and adults."