Oct. 30 – The Department of Biosciences of the University of Parma announced that it will receive funding from the European Commission under the EU Still Life Plus 2013 tender for a four-year long project that involves a number of prestigious institutions across the continent. The project sees the University of Parma act as the recipient institution and project leader, alongside the National Park of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, the Management Agency for Biodiversity of Western Emilia, the Po Basin Authority, the Fondazione Mario Negri Sud and the academic spin-offs of GenTech. Francesco Nonnis Marzano, associate professor in the Department of Animal Biology, is the general and scientific coordinator of the project. His research group had the idea to propose a multidisciplinary project focusing on the environmental restoration and protection of water resources of select rivers in the provinces of Parma, Piacenza and Reggio Emilia. The catalyzing element was the identification of two fish species considered of particular conservation interest by the European Union. These barbel species could trigger a virtuous cycle that begins with the genomic characterization of the specimens, and has as ultimate goal the protection of water quality. The total project budget stands at € 2 million, to be distributed among the various entities involved in the activities. The same will be done for the 25 implementation actions aimed at the rehabilitation of 14 Sites of Community Interest (SCIs and/or SPAs) within the Natura 2000 network. The first actions will focus on the reintroduction and protection of two species of barbel (plebeio and canine); hence the acronym “Barbie” that identifies the LIFE13 NAT/IT/001129 project. (Red)
