Projects

Explore how we combine science, fieldwork, education and collaboration to support ecosystem restoration and long-term management.

Monitoring invasive alien flora in Sicily

Riparia is currently surveying and monitoring invasive alien plant species across three sites in Sicily. The project combines field surveys, species identification and spatial analysis to establish a robust baseline for future management.

Beyond the project boundaries, the work contributes to preventing the spread of invasive flora and indirectly supports the conservation of surrounding ecosystems, including nearby protected habitats. The data and analyses produced also provide a knowledge base for future management and conservation actions at the wider landscape scale.

A landscape with green shrubs and small trees in the foreground, a hill covered with sparse vegetation in the middle, and a partly cloudy sky overhead.
Close-up of green corn plants with some yellowing leaves under a bright blue sky.

Valuate ecosystem services to plan, implement, monitor and manage ecosystem restoration projects

At the University of Parma, Riparia delivered a three-hour seminar for students attending Prof. Rossano Bolpagni’s course on Nature-Based Solutions for Urban and AgroEcosystems.

After exploring the UN SEEA Ecosystem Accounting framework and the JRC’s INCA Tool, students worked in groups on a practical case study. Starting from a mismatch between the supply of and demand of ecosystem services for flood protection, they compared potential Nature-Based Solutions, assessed the ecosystem services and beneficiaries each could generate, mapped key stakeholders, and developed an initial monitoring approach.

The session helped bridge the gap between understanding the potential of Nature-Based Solutions and designing an intervention for a real territorial context.

Map showing flood control map mismatch with high demand-supply mismatch in a city and surrounding areas, with zoomed-in section on right.
Diagram illustrating biophysical flow model for flood control, including input layers like soil maps and population data, service potential, actual flow, primary and secondary outputs, with maps and descriptions.

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