The current fast pace of direct (e.g., habitat destruction, overfishing, etc.) and indirect (e.g., global warming, sea level rise) changes in environmental conditions is concomitant with the highest extinction rates ever recorded. Despite clear knowledge of the scale of biodiversity decline, there is currently no evidence of a decrease in large-scale extinction rates. But biodiversity loss goes beyond the extinction of species; it also affects multiple levels of organisation and can influence human well-being and livelihoods when ecosystem services are disrupted. The most powerful tool in halting and reversing biodiversity loss is the creation and targeted management of protected areas, underlying the 30×30 target by UN´s CBD, to: “effectively protect and manage 30% of the world’s terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine areas by 2030”. This project in the field of conservation biology aims to use innovate methods to tackle biodiversity loss on a group of fast declining species, migratory shorebirds. It will take advantage of Earth observation tools and novel technologies to provide management guidelines in coastal wetlands and establish new methodologies to assess and monitor those species and their habitats.
