MRU's Environmental Management Laboratory researchers have presented the geospatial data portal, Lithuanian National Ecosystem Services Assessment and Mapping, LINESAM. Creation of the portal is one of the basic aims of the project, "Lithuanian National Ecosystem Services and Mapping" (No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0104).
The goal of LINESAM is to develop a national ES mapping and assessment framework to improve the understanding of the relationships between ecosystems, biodiversity and human wellbeing. It is to see how drivers of change may affect ES supply in Lithuania.
ES will be assessed and mapped across ecosystems (urban areas, agricultural, forested and coastal environments) and across spatial scales (national level and case study specific) using the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) class types. Through a stakeholder engagement process, actual beneficiaries of ES and their power relations will be identified.
The final aim is to improve the understanding of nature-society interaction through an ES based approach, identify national drivers of change (environmental and socio-economic) and their effect on ES supply and demand, etc. LINESAM also aims to create a common knowledge baseline on ES, accessible to decision-makers, planners, academics and the public through the development of a Geoportal, based on open source technologies that will support storing, sharing and mapping of the results throughout the project lifetime.
The project is divided into five work packages (WP). More info here: http://linesam.mruni.eu
The Head of the Project is Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) Prof. Paulo Pereira. He is an internationally recognized researcher and has extensive experience in spatial modelling and mapping. He holds a post-doc at Michigan State University, U.S.A., and works with scientists from many countries including: Portugal, Spain, Italy, UK, Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, Austria, Croatia, Sweden, Ukraine, Israel, Egypt, Iran, Australia, the USA and Canada. Prof. Pereira is the author or co-author of more than 50 ISI Web of Science articles, 33 book chapters and a great number of communications in conferences.
Paulo Pereira received internationally recognized awards, such as the Soil System Sciences Division Outstanding Young Scientist Award, and has been recognized by several journals for the excellent and outstanding revision in the journals, Forest Ecology and Management, Catena, Science of the Total Environment and Environmental Geochemistry and Health. He organised 10 International conferences and short courses related to mapping. He is also one of the co-authors of the single international paper available focused on mapping ecosystem services in Lithuania.
Prof. Pereira is the representative of Lithuania for the H2020 Enhancing ecoSysteM Services Mapping for Policy and Decision Making (ESMERALDA) project and he is participating in other ES projects, such as ERA-LEARN 2020 UrbanGaia. He is working on and has worked in many other projects, from the FP7 framework (RECARE), Cost action (Connecteur), and Spanish Ministry of Science (PostFire and PostFire Care).
More Information about Paulo Pereira profile is available in http://paspereira.weebly.com