🌊 From shared challenges to shared solutions: what did ASPEH achieve for Adriatic biodiversity?
21/09/2026
Biodiversity loss, pressure from human activities and climate change do not stop at national borders. Protecting coastal habitats and species therefore requires more than isolated local actions: it requires knowledge, cooperation and solutions that can be shared.
🇮🇹 🇭🇷 This was the challenge addressed by ASPEH – Adriatic SPEcies and Habitats of coastal areas, which brought together Italian and Croatian organisations working to improve the conservation and management of Natura 2000 sites and other protected coastal areas.
But how can scientific knowledge become real conservation action?
This was one of the key questions explored during the ASPEH Final Conference in Rosolina Mare, in the Po Delta. The event brought together project partners, public authorities, researchers and environmental experts to show the main results achieved throughout the project areas and discuss how cooperation can support biodiversity protection, leaving an important lesson beyond the lifetime of the project.
The project worked on very different but connected conservation challenges: from the ferruginous duck at Torre Guaceto, to coastal dunes 🏖️ and the Kentish plover, from Croatian sandy habitats and Natura 2000 marine caves to awareness-raising activities and the monitoring of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) 🐢.
So, what did the project leave behind?
ASPEH transformed shared challenges into practical conservation measures, monitoring activities, training and stronger cooperation among protected-area managers.
🤝 The real value lies in continuing to link science, local experience and cross-border cooperation to protect the Adriatic as one shared ecosystem.
#ASPEH #InterregItalyCroatia #catchingthewavesofcooperation #Biodiversity
