Agriculture covers around half of the European terrestrial land surface, and intensive agricultural land-use is one of the major drivers affecting habitat and species diversity in agricultural landscapes. The EU 2030 Biodiversity and Farm to Fork Strategies aim to halt biodiversity loss while ensuring human well-being. Yet, it is unclear if and how these strategies will be efficiently implemented, as there is currently no results-based monitoring of progress. More efficient and representative strategies are required to monitor biodiversity and its loss or recuperation through space and time.

The BioMonitor4CAP project will test, validate and develop affordable and reliable biodiversity monitoring systems that work both on farmland and in European »Natura 2000« protected areas by combining classical biodiversity indicator systems with technology-driven acoustic, optical or molecular approaches.

Fraunhofer IDMT will bring its expertise in the field of acoustic monitoring for birds, bats and insects to the project. On the one hand, the existing AI models for the detection of these species will be made more robust and energy efficient. On the other hand, the detection system will be adapted to the species diversity for in-situ biodiversity monitoring.