Hydro Island (Pianosa Island: hydrological processes and water resources sustainability in a climate-changing Mediterranean) is an “Isole di Toscana” Biosphere Reserve project on the Island of Pianosa to promote the sustainable development of water resources in correlation to climate change in the Mediterranean.
The project is the result of cooperation between the Tuscan Archipelago National Park (PNAT), promoter of the project as the point of reference of the “Isole di Toscana” MAB UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the National Research Council – Institute of Geosciences and Georesources (CNR-IGG), as scientific leader of the project, the University of Siena – Department of Physical, Earth and Environmental Sciences (DSFTA-UniSi), the University of Pisa – Department of Earth Sciences (DST-UniPi), the Geological and Archaeological Museum of Pianosa (GASP Museum) and Turismo Sostenibile s.r.l. The Tuscan Water Authority (AIT) has also expressed interest in the project as a stakeholder.
HYDRO-ISLAND will develop in about a year starting from September 2022 and will be focused on the impacts of climate change on the water resources of small islands and their ecosystems, taking the Island of Pianosa as a pilot area, thanks also to the availability of data produced from the hydrological-hydrogeological monitoring networks set up and supported for some time by the Pianosa Research Base of the CNR (BRP-CNR; www.brp.cnr.it), with the participation of other project partners.
The Island of Pianosa, with its hydrological characteristics and ecosystem in the broad sense, together with a moderate anthropic impact, can constitute a reference site in the Mediterranean Basin to define the aspects of vulnerability, but also of resilience, shown by island water systems in a scenario of climate change.
HHYDRO-ISLAND adopts a multidisciplinary, geological, hydrological, hydrogeological, geochemical-isotopic, geophysical and “remote sensing-smart technology” approach to analyse the processes affecting water availability in the broad sense, sharing data and knowledge with the scientific community and the territory and offering the basis for possible solutions with a view to the sustainability of the Island of Pianosa. In parallel with the scientific research part, the project includes significant educational and cultural activities aimed at first and second level secondary schools, including guided tours and aimed at transferring the results of the research carried out to students on the archipelago and more generally to all parties concerned.
P.I.: Marco Doveri, Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse (CNR-IGG) – marco.doveri@igg.cnr.it
FUNDING INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM: UNESCO and the abrdn Charitable Foundation – Promoting sustainable development through UNESCO’s programmes and sites
Foto: R.Ridi for the Tuscan Archipelago National Park
