Europe highlights the success of the NATURE-FIRST project and its technological legacy under the motto “Predict to Protect”

The European Commission has recently recognised the impact and final results of the NATURE-FIRST project, classifying it as a “success story” on its Research and Innovation portal under the title “Predict to Protect”.

At 3edata, as technology partners in this now-concluded European consortium, we welcome this recognition of the work carried out to transform nature conservation: successfully shifting from a reactive model to a predictive one.

Within the consortium of 12 international partners, 3edata played a role focused on two fundamental technical areas:

  • Semi-automated habitat mapping: We developed methodologies to identify and classify natural habitats on a massive scale with high precision, drastically reducing timeframes and costs compared to traditional methods.
  • Remote sensing-supported change detection: We implemented satellite surveillance systems capable of continuously detecting alterations in the territory (such as logging, land-use changes or vegetation degradation).

These tools were validated in the field at demonstration sites such as the Ancares-Courel SAC (Galicia, Spain), the Stara Planina mountains (Bulgaria), the Maramures region (Romania and Ukraine) and the Danube Delta. There, our team demonstrated how data engineering allows for the monitoring of vast areas of land and the anticipation of threats to biodiversity.

The Commission’s article highlights how the integration of these technologies, combined with forensic intelligence and data analysis, proved that it is possible to anticipate environmental damage before it becomes irreversible.

The success of NATURE-FIRST lay in the practical application of these innovations. Digital Twins (virtual models of ecosystems) were created which, supported by remote sensing data provided by partners like 3edata, allowed natural space managers to visualise risks and make decisions based on scientific evidence.

This recognition from Europe confirms that the integration of data engineering into environmental management—a fundamental pillar of 3edata—has paved a solid path towards meeting the ambitious objectives of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.

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