“Spaced” – Protecting natural landscapes from above

A new exhibit on display at the European Parliament explores the crucial role of satellites in observing and conserving Europe´s natural areas.

With over 120,000 sites, Europe has more protected areas than any other region on Earth. Yet, despite this large number many are like small islands, surrounded by agriculture, transport networks and relentless urban development.

Scientists and park managers across Europe have the difficult task of ensuring these protected areas stay healthy – and continue to provide the benefits we all expect from nature. These include clean water and air, refuge for important species and, of course, places where everyone can escape the hustle and bustle of modern life.

It´s a monumental task. Thankfully, the satellites that monitor the earth have made our life a lot easier. The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Landsat and the European Space Agency´s Sentinel satellites can track anything from deforestation, the status of crops or the ozone layer, glacier or snow melting and provide important information for relief efforts after natural disasters. The ESA´s new Sentinel 5 satellite, launched in October 2017, can also track air pollution in extraordinary detail.

In many cases, the technology has moved so fast that scientists are playing catch-up and are only beginning to grasp the potential of satellites to help manage Europe´s protected areas.

The European Union´s largest research funding source, Horizon 2020, is keenly aware of this and has supported the development of ECOPOTENTIAL, a unique project that involves 47 partners from around the continent. ECOPOTENTIAL focusses on developing satellite (otherwise known as Earth Observation) products and data to monitor and predict changes in Europe´s ecosystems.

ECOPOTENTIAL´s testing ground is 25 protected areas around Europe, which represent almost all of Europe´s biogeographic areas and include mountain, marine and coastal and semi-arid zones.

The canopy height model for the Swiss National Park was generated for ECOPOTENTIAL by the Centre d’Etudes Spatiales de la BIOsphère based on data from Swiss Federal Office of Topography.

In Spain’s Sierra Nevada, an ancient irrigation network built during Muslim era from the 9th Century onwards still exists on the mountain slopes. These irrigation channels direct water from the high mountain slopes, which are covered in snow during the winter, down to the drier lower slopes. ECOPOTENTIAL scientists are now exploring if these channels can be restored to deliver much needed water under drier conditions to downstream areas.

Swiss National Park and Sierra Nevada are just two of the 23 protected areas that are on display, each with a unique story, satellite image and accompanying photos.