From 9-11 April, approximately 50 participants gathered in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, for the 4th Natura 2000 monitoring workshop. During this edition, the workshop focussed around the roles of new technologies and citizen science.

Participants from 13 EU countries listened to presentations concerning remote sensing, drone data and other new technologies such as camera traps and eDNA, as well as the role of citizen science. Two demonstration workshops were given on the first and second day. The first demonstration showed how to support local to global environmental protection, conservation and restoration through Earth observations, and the second demonstration was on simple automatic detection of small landscape changes using satellite imagery. 

The event also served as a networking event for the Natura 2000 Biogeographical Process, lead by Environmental Research Wageningen. In addition to the organisation of Natura 2000 Seminars in each biogeographical region, the process promotes the exchange of knowledge and cooperation on Natura 2000 management beyond national borders, within and between biogeographical regions. 

During the last day participants had the opportunity to enjoy a field trip to Dehesa de Abuja in the Doñana National Park, where we fortunate enough to see many storks and flamingos, as well as other rare bird species. 
For more information and the presentations of the workshop, please have a look at our dedicated event page. 

A workshop report will follow soon.