Biodiversity is the key word of this new edition of eco.mont. Who ever thought that biodiversity protection means the conservation of species is certainly not wrong but this is only the “top of the iceberg” of the enormous complexity of the topic.

From natural factors like habitat evolution with its different elements (soil, vegetation, fauna, aquatic environment,…), geomorphologic phenomena linked to avalanches, erosion and tectonic movements, to questions of land management, conservation of single species or questions of acceptance of protected areas and their last wilderness parts – research , planning and management have here a very large field of activities in order to preserve biodiversity in an integrated approach of numerous scientific disciplines and topics.

In this sense, eco.mont closes a gap not covered so far by classical scientific journals. Research is in deed one of the official tasks of most of the protected areas. Numerous research projects are realised in protected areas, many of them are handling with biodiversity and contributing with their methodologies and results and their often very developed and rich infrastructure, logistics and last but not least their staff on the ground guarantee a good base for research activities and especially long-term observations.