BiodiversityXL (Centre of Excellence for Netherlands Biodiversity Research)

Collaboration

Naturalis Biodiversity Center, the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ-NWO) and Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute-KNAW have launched BiodiversityXL, the Centre of Excellence for Netherlands Biodiversity Research. Of course, Dutch universities are very much involved.

Biodiversity loss is one of the most important threats to mankind and is having an increasing economic and social impact. Activities aimed at restoration do not always work. That’s because in nature everything is connected. Nature does not stop where our research ends.

Nationwide approach

We are still far from knowing everything about biodiversity in the Netherlands. And the knowledge we have is fragmented. Effective management and restoration of biodiversity requires a more fundamental knowledge of biodiversity and the ecology behind it. That’s why we’re initiating a national approach to boost knowledge of biodiversity in the Netherlands.

Connecting research

The Netherlands is an international leader in many of the biological disciplines in the field of biodiversity. However, connections between knowledge on different levels are sometimes missing: between macro- and microbiological diversity, for example. It is also important to gain more insight into the ways in which species react to each other when biodiversity decreases or increases.

We want to integrate knowledge about our soil, fresh and salt water and our air and combine scientific research more intensively. We make our research integrally available.