EIR 0-3 Focus

The focus of this edition is one of Eco Innovation's directors, Marjolein Visser, and her two strands of research: restoring desertified drylands, and aspects of the European agri-environment.

Marjolein Visser is an agro-ecologist who initiated her first research strand in native seed production for arid lands in 1992. Her work includes collecting, evaluating and selecting native perennial grasses , and to a lesser degree legumes, in South-Tunisia. Her interest lies in applying results from her work (knowledge and seed material) in a participatory way among arid land users to combat ecological degradation. Marjolein currently holds a lecturership in Farming Systems at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Ecole Interfacultaire de Bio-ingénieurs (Free University of Brussels, Belgium).

In her second research strand, Marjolein has explored the relationship between agriculture and conservation in Western Ireland, thanks to a Marie Curie post-doc research scholarship at the NUI, Galway. This research focused on turloughs , which are summer-grazed, winter-flooded karstic wetlands unique to Ireland. They have high nature conservation value and are designated as Natura 2000 Priority Habitats for protection.

In Issue 1 of the Eco Innovation Review, we feature an interview with Marjolein covering her research on turloughs and her plans for the future. This interview touches on the importance of social issues in turlough management, as these high-value habitats need to be farmed in order to be conserved. Marjolein's research has focused on how farmers graze turloughs, and the links between the way they graze them and the way they take their decisions and perceive their land within the framework of the EU agri-environment policy. Read more in Eco Innovation Review 1!