REN BIODIVERSITY CHAIR’S SYMPOSIUM DISCUSSED COOPERATION BETWEEN RESEARCH CENTERS AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR

Coordinated by CIBIO-InBIO, REN Biodiversity Chair, a collaborative project of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), the company Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) and the University of Porto (U.Porto), seeks to promote top-quality research, advanced training and knowledge transfer on topics of interest pertaining to the monitoring, mitigation and compensation of environmental impacts associated with the energy networks, based on population ecology studies and leading to the preservation of biodiversity.

The first interventions of the symposium were in charge of Francisco Moreira (CIBIO-InBIO researcher and Chair's holder) and Francisco Parada (Head of Quality, Environment and Safety Department at REN) and were focused on the developed work so far in the context of this project, which was resulting in relevant scientific activities and impact on REN's decision-making.

There followed a roundtable on “Applied Research”, during which representatives from different companies shared, based on their experiences, how knowledge transfer is able to help solve problems and implement more sustainable practices. In this context, Nuno Ferrand, CIBIO-InBIO Scientific Coordinator, highlighted the importance of this kind of chairs as a tool to consolidate scientific systems and, at the same time, contribute to a positive impact on the planet sustainability, “through excellence research applied in the innovation of the business fabric”.

This event’s first part also counted with the presence of an invited speaker: Rick Harness, Certified Wildlife Biologist on EDM International (USA). He has talked about Animal Interaction with Power Facilities, concluding that effective solutions for this kind of challenges require an understanding of biology and engineering.

The afternoon was dedicated to the workshop “Scientific advances: contributions of the REN Biodiversity Chair”, held on the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto and with presentations from the REN Biodiversity Chair research team.

Joana Bernardino presented the state of the art and knowledge gaps of Bird collision with power lines. Afterwards, Ricardo Martins talked about bird mortality in REN lines, based on an overview of 15 years of monitoring data. Teresa Marques presented the talk “Modelling Great and Little bustard mortality in very high-tension power lines in Portugal”. João Paulo Silva closed the session with the presentation “Population trends and the importance of anthropogenic mortality in the Little bustard”.