On May 30, 2025, in the heart of the Vena del Gesso Romagnola Regional Park, within the Life Carnè-Rontana project area, a special meeting took place during a walk along the Life4OakForests project’s Nature Trail. The LIFE project technical coordinator, Serena Petroncini, together with the intern Sofia Mandrioli from the University of Bologna, welcomed two distinguished guests: researcher Tracy Hruska from the University of Oulu, Finland, and Professor of Plant Ecology Francesco Maria Sabatini also from the University of Bologna.

The two scholars are part of the European MOTIVATE project – Monitoring of Terrestrial Habitats by Integrating Vegetation Archive Time Series – funded by the international Biodiversa+ Program, which promotes biodiversity research and sustainable ecosystem management.

During the excursion, discussions focused on the Life4OakForests project and its importance in conserving oak forests, which are connected not only to nature but also to the history and identity of local landscapes. They also talked about how ecological data is collected in the field and how these data can be used to better understand ecosystem changes.

The MOTIVATE project, led by the University of Halle-Wittenberg in Germany, involves universities from six European countries, including Oulu and Bologna. Its main goal is to enhance our ability to monitor the status and changes of habitats critical for biodiversity. To achieve this, it is working on improving integration between academic botanists and various national and regional agencies responsible for nature monitoring in compliance with European habitat conservation directives. Specifically, MOTIVATE aims to leverage the vast European ReSurveyEurope archive, which gathers data on vegetation changes over time, and study how this can be integrated into national monitoring schemes.

During the interview, the Life4OakForests project was discussed, including its connection to the history of local forests and how ecological data are collected and used.

Rpoer Norum, Professor of Cultural Anthropology at the University of Oulu, and researcher Tracy are studying how botanists, technicians, and other experts gather vegetation data, focusing particularly on the use of qualitative data—information collected through interviews and narratives—to improve the analysis of ecological data gathered in the field.

These “narrative” data help explain why certain landscape changes have occurred. They could also prove useful for other ongoing studies, such as the one led by Professor Francesco Maria Sabatini, who is developing a model to analyse how and why vegetation has changed in three Italian protected areas, including the  The National Park of the Casentinesi Forests, Monte Falterona, and Campigna, integrating satellite imagery and historical vegetation surveys.

Tracy Hruska’s field research has just begun, with two intensive weeks of interviews in Italy and Austria involving technicians, botanists, and land managers.

An interesting point that emerged concerns how sites are chosen for analysis: botanists often select areas that represent an “ideal situation” to describe habitats, but these do not always reflect the real and more common conditions. Furthermore, information about past (or present) land use is often missing—an essential aspect for those who must make practical decisions and plan management of these areas over time.

Although botanists and land managers share an interest in conserving natural environments, they use different approaches and tools. Better understanding of their respective needs and viewpoints can help improve collaboration and the effectiveness of environmental protection projects.