Luxembourg Radio Show: the power of collective approaches to biodiversity monitoring
- Taskscape Associates
- Apr 10
- 3 min read
Two key members of the FRAMEwork project recently featured on "The Lisa Burke Show" in Luxembourg, for an insightful discussion about citizen science initiatives, and the role of farmer clusters and their communities in achieving better understanding and support for biodiversity.
Watch or listen to the full show here
On Saturday 5th April, Youri Martin from the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) and Gerid Hager from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria brought their expertise to the airwaves - highlighting the importance of collaborative approaches to addressing biodiversity decline in agricultural landscapes.
In Conversation with Lisa Burke is a weekly talk show that explores a wide range of topics—from global news and politics to science, culture, and personal stories—through engaging discussions with international guests, offering Luxembourg-centred but globally relevant perspectives. See some clips on social media.
Raising the Alarm on Biodiversity Decline
Youri Martin, facilitator of the Luxembourg Farmer Cluster and principal investigator for biodiversity monitoring at LIST, shared concerning data about insect population decline over the past decade. When asked about the pattern of decline in butterfly populations since monitoring began 12 years ago, Martin revealed:
"It's actually a strong decline, a very strong decline for all the insects, especially these recent 10 years... You can say roughly that the mass abundance of butterflies has declined by about 60%."
Martin explained that this significant decline is due to combined pressures from climate change, habitat loss, agricultural practices including pesticide use, and increasing urbanization.
Citizen Science as a Powerful Tool
FRAMEwork experts highlighted the critical role of citizen scientists in collecting meaningful biodiversity data. Martin explained how standardized monitoring protocols enable volunteers to contribute to scientific research through regular transect walks counting butterflies and other pollinators.
The show also featured John Park, a dedicated citizen scientist who has been conducting butterfly transect walks for the past five years. Park emphasized how rewarding the experience has been:
"I think quite often we feel as citizens that we can't do very much about contributing to scientific research. And clearly we can."
Farmer Clusters Making a Difference
Gerid Hager described how the farmer cluster concept, central to the FRAMEwork project, enables collective action at the landscape scale:
"The farmer cluster concept that we've introduced in this FRAMEwork project is one step towards being more innovative in how farmers can tackle these issues not alone but collectively as farmer groups on a landscape scale, because especially in terms of promoting biodiversity, landscape scale perspective is very important—not just looking at the individual farms but how the farms are connected."
Find out more through FRAMEwork
The radio appearance highlighted several ways for farmers and the public to engage with biodiversity monitoring and the FRAMEwork project:
Citizen Science Observatory: Tools like iNaturalist make it easy for anyone to contribute meaningful biodiversity data
Farmer Cluster Stories: See examples of community events across Europe and connect with Clusters in your region through the Recodo platform.
Resources for Organisers: Find guides and materials to support you organising a Citizen Science Event
In it's final year, the FRAMEwork project continues to work with a network of farmer clusters across Europe, empowering agricultural communities to implement biodiversity-friendly practices while making tools and resources available through the Recodo platform.
To learn more about FRAMEwork's approach to biodiversity-friendly farming and
to explore resources for farmers, scientists, and citizens, visit recodo.io or follow us on Twitter.
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