The BMD Project (Biodiversity Meets Data) aims to enhance access to high-throughput biodiversity monitoring tools, analyses, and data to support evidence-based conservation efforts across Europe.
Coordinated by Naturalis Biodiversity Center, the project kicked off at the beginning of March 2025 and will support key initiatives such as the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the Birds and Habitats Directives and the Nature Restoration Law.
BMD will provide a Single Access Point (SAP) for natural resource managers and policymakers, offering access to:
- Biodiversity monitoring tools including image, sound, e-DNA and AI taxon identification services;
- Co-designed Virtual Research Environments (VREs) for terrestrial, freshwater and marine realms;
- A Web-GIS Map Viewer for data exploration.
The Virtual Research Environments (VREs) will build on the expertise of eLTER (terrestrial and freshwater domains) and LifeWatch ERIC (marine domain), combining biological data with environmental, climatic, and remotely sensed datasets.
These integrated platforms will bridge knowledge gaps through predictive modelling, supporting the identification of drivers of change and enabling analysis of climate and land cover impacts on species and habitats.
In addition to its role in the marine VRE, LifeWatch ERIC will also contribute to the data visualisation engine and the design of the Single Access Point, and lead learning, training, and capacity-building initiatives for biologists, managers of Natura 2000 sites and other natural sites and resources, policy makers and interested third parties.
The project’s tools and services will be co-designed and co-developed with stakeholders, ensuring user input guides every stage. BMD will help turn biodiversity data into actionable insights for conservation and policy, thanks to the collaboration of 14 partner institutions.
Funders: the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).