Belgium

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Contacts

LifeWatch Belgium

Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ),
InnovOcean site,
Wandelaarkaai 7, 8400 Ostend, Belgium

Belgium joined LifeWatch ERIC in 2017 and it contributes to LifeWatch ERIC through its National Distributed Centre.

Notwithstanding its relatively small territory, Belgium has a remarkable diversity of habitats and species, and has a rich tradition of biodiversity and ecosystem research, both within and outside of its borders.

Since the start of LifeWatch, Belgium has been a committed country that actively contributes through a number of long-term projects managed by different research centres and universities across the country and supported by the respective political authorities.

What We Do

Species Information Backbone

The service that facilitates the standardisation and integration of species data and provides access to information on species taxonomy, biogeography, genetics and traits (habitat, morphology, vulnerability, etc.).

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Marine Freshwater Terrestrial Observatory

Integrated observation systems that generate long-term and openly accessible biodiversity data applying innovative approaches (imaging, acoustics, genomics, tagging and tracking, artificial intelligence, citizen science).

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Thematic Remote sensing

An interactive geoportal provides thematic pan-European remote sensing data. An object-based ecotope database integrates geographic data for Belgium. Moreover, biophysical variables are available for the South Pole.

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Antarctic Biodiversity Portal

The Antarctic Biodiversity Portal (biodiversity.aq) works closely with the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) to provide access to data and tools for understanding Antarctic marine and terrestrial biodiversity.

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Organisation

LifeWatch.be or the National Distributed Centre for LifeWatch Belgium combines the regional and federal LifeWatch contributions from Belgium.

The Flemish contribution is shaped by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), and is funded by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO). The contribution of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation is a collaborative research programme between scientists of the Earth and Life Institute (Université catholique de Louvain) and the Biosystems Engineering Department (Université de Liège/Gembloux-ABT). The federal contribution (xBiodiversity.aq) is coordinated by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) and is funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO). The federal authority also supports the Belgian Biodiversity Platform in its running of the LifeWatch Belgium scientific node. BELSPO also funds the annual monetary contribution to the ERIC.

VLIZ is the national focal point for the LifeWatch.be distributed centre.

This leaflet presents the LifeWatch Belgium Distributed Centre, its main activities and organisational structure.

You can browse the leaflet online (full screen mode is available in the control bar) or download it by clicking on the three dots icon.

Projects

News from LifeWatch Belgium

How LifeWatch Belgium supports science at the Ghent University Museum

The Ghent University Museum (GUM) and Botanical Garden represent an innovative approach to science communication in Flanders and beyond. Located in the heart of Ghent’s Botanical Garden, this institution is the first recognised university museum in Flandres. With a history spanning over 200 years and a collection of more than 400,000 items, the GUM is an example of how universities can bridge the gap between academia and society. As a "Forum for Science, Doubt & Art," the GUM showcases how scientists think and work, encouraging visitors - be they students, researchers, or the general public - to embrace the processes...

LifeWatch Belgium: ETN datasets on fish species now accessible through GBIF

At the end of September, we received important news from our National Distributed Centre in LifeWatch Belgium: the first ETN datasets from the Permanent Belgian Acoustic Receiver Network are now available via GBIF. The datasets include 507,095 occurrences of 10 fish species from Belgian freshwater, intertidal, and marine habitats. What does that mean? LifeWatch Belgium uses innovative tracking technologies to understand fishes’ movement behaviour, and get insights into their migration routes. Through acoustic telemetry, they actively track fish through implanted tags that emit acoustic signals. The importance of having such data and being able to understand fish routes, can be...

LifeWatch Belgium launched a new and redesigned website for an enhanced user experience

LifeWatch ERIC is happy to announce the launch of the newly redesigned LifeWatch Belgium website. This platform offers a sleek, user-friendly interface and enhanced navigation, reflecting LifeWatch Belgium's commitment to providing accessible, high-quality biodiversity and ecosystem research resources. LifeWatch Belgium specialises in offering advanced data services and tools for biodiversity and ecosystem research. The website showcases services such as the Biodiversity Data System, Habitat Mapping, Bio-Logging, and more, supporting researchers with cutting-edge technologies and extensive datasets. Indeed, LifeWatch Belgium's local observatories generate long-term marine, freshwater, and terrestrial data, which is openly accessible for research. Biodiversity data systems integrate global taxonomic...

The World Register of Marine Species and Edaphobase join forces to strengthen biodiversity information systems for scientific research

LifeWatch Belgium's World Register of Marine Species and Edaphobase have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate and share information. The aim is to promote the use of biodiversity information systems for scientific research, avoid duplication of effort, identify overlaps between initiatives, and establish an open exchange of taxonomic information. The Soil Biodiversity Data Warehouse Edaphobase is a publicly accessible data warehouse that synthesises and standardises occurrence and taxonomic data on soil invertebrates and links them to environmental site parameters in space and time. Edaphobase is hosted and operated by the Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz, Department of Soil...

WoRMS released the 2023 top ten new marine species

On March 19, The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), an initiative hosted by VLIZ, LifeWatch Belgium‘s focal point, released the top ten marine species described by researchers in 2023, coinciding with World Taxonomist Appreciation Day. The list highlights about 2,000 new marine species discovered each year. In 2023, WoRMS added almost 2,000 marine species, including some 330 fossils. In December 2023, World Register of Marine Species sent an invitation for nominations to editors of WoRMS and major taxonomy journals. The invitation was also posted on the WoRMS website and social media, allowing anyone to nominate their favourite marine species...

The LifeWatch ERIC Thematic Services workshops have started with a kick-off on Taxonomy

On January 30, at the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts in Brussels, the first LifeWatch ERIC Thematic Services Workshops kicked off, focused on Taxonomy Services. Alberto Basset, LifeWatch ERIC Service Centre Director, opened the meeting by presenting the LifeWatch Thematic Core Services (TCS). These services consist of tools, virtual labs, and other research products designed to facilitate the work of various stakeholders. They aim to support specialised scientific communities, experts involved in environmental policies (such as the UN Decade of Oceans and the European Green Deal), and practitioners dealing with biodiversity observatories. Alberto Basset underlined...

LifeWatch ERIC launches the 2024 Thematic Service Workshop Series

Last update: 1 February 2024 The LifeWatch ERIC Thematic Services, co-developed by the LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities and National Distributed Centres, are a key component of the 2022-2026 Infrastructure Strategic Working Plan (SWP). They represent the key priority areas of eService construction in LifeWatch ERIC proposed by the National Distributed Centres. Activities, developments and physical outcomes of the LifeWatch ERIC Thematic Services, as eServices, Virtual Labs (vLabs) and more complex and complete Virtual Research Environments (VREs), are planned to be coordinated by Thematic Service Working Groups participated by scientists from both the National Distributed Centres and the Common Facilities, with...

Ocean Census and WoRMS announce partnership to enhance rapid discovery and identification of Marine Life

Ocean Census has announced a new collaboration with the World Register of Marine Species, a major partner in LifeWatch Belgium, to accelerate the discovery of ocean life.

DecaNet: A Portal For Decapod Biodiversity Informatics

DecaNet is a database for decapod species and associated biodiversity information. Published on 23 June 2023, it falls under the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). Besides marine species, it aims to provide an authoritative list including freshwater, terrestrial biomes and a growing number of fossil taxa. Decapoda are one of the best-researched groups of Crustacea. Researchers studied 17,229 species (December 2022), far beyond taxonomy in various scientific fields. Hopefully, DecaNet will act as a one-stop shop for taxonomic and biodiversity information on the group. The taxonomic/systematic backbone of DecaNet is now largely complete. The fifteen volunteer editors for recent...

LifeWatch Belgium User Story: There’s no plaice like an offshore wind farm

Offshore wind farms are built at a high rate in European waters as part of the green transition, taking up marine space that is often not available anymore to other users such as the fisheries sector. However, knowledge on the ecological effects of wind farms on commercial flatfish was lacking. Understanding the ecological impacts of an offshore wind farm on a fish species requires knowledge on its movements within and its association to the wind farm area. Therefore, a tagging study making use of an acoustic receiver network was carried out in the Belwind wind farm (Belgium), by PhD student...

LifeWatch Belgium’s Big Seashell Survey Takes Off in France

The Big Annual Seashell Survey, with shells collected across more than 400 kilometres of beaches, has become one of the largest citizen science initiatives on Europe's coasts. This annual LifeWatch Belgium initiative began in 2018, driven by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) in close cooperation with EOS Science, the Province of West Flanders, Natuurpunt, the Strandwerkgroep, Kusterfgoed and the ten coastal municipalities. In 2022, at the fifth edition, the Netherlands participated for the first time. And during last Saturday's edition on 25 March, the Netherlands accounted for their entire coastline, and staff from CPIE Flandre Maritime in Zuydcoote (northern France)...

The LifeWatch Community Platform is here!

Roll up, roll up! LifeWatch followers and collaborators are cordially invited to the grand unveiling of the LifeWatch Community platform, now openly available to everyone! Who should become a member? Well, if you’re interested in biodiversity and ecosystem research, then you should! The content of the Community platform will be widely shaped by its members, allowing them to create and contribute to forums, add opportunities, jobs and events of interest to the community, and hold meetings and collaborative brainstorming together with other members. These features are particularly well-suited to the needs of partners involved in European projects focused on biodiversity,...

Ten remarkable new marine species from 2022

As for previous years, the World Register of Marine Species, WoRMS (hosted by VLIZ, focal point of LifeWatch Belgium), has again released its annual list of the top-ten marine species described by researchers during the past year to coincide with World Taxonomist Appreciation Day on 19 March! If you were unaware of this celebration of all the work that taxonomists do, you can find more here and here. Every day in labs, museums, and out on fieldwork, taxonomists are busy collecting, cataloguing, identifying, comparing, describing, and naming species new to science. Some 300 taxonomists globally also contribute their valuable time to keeping the...

Voices of Women at LifeWatch ERIC for International Women’s Day

In preparation for this year’s International Women’s Day, LifeWatch ERIC International Gender Officer, Africa Zanella, had a clear request: amplify women’s voices. As explored in the “Gender, Equity and Research” campaign for last year’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science, statistically, we know that while more women than ever are getting involved in STEM, there are significant obstacles still to overcome for women in research. In light of International Women’s Day 2023, we have therefore created a podcast miniseries specifically dedicated to learning more about authentic experiences of women working in LifeWatch ERIC fields of interest. We asked scientists...

Horizon Europe project Blue-Cloud 2026 to enhance Open Science in support of ocean protection and restoration

Over the past decades, Europe has developed an impressive capability for aquatic environmental observation, data-handling and sharing, modelling and forecasting. This builds upon national environmental observation and monitoring networks and programmes, complemented with EU infrastructures such as the Copernicus satellite observation programme and related thematic services, the European Marine Observation and Data Network , as well as a range of environmental European RIs and major R&D projects. Within this framework, since October 2019, the pilot Blue-Cloud project combined both the interests of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), aiming to provide a virtual environment with open and seamless access to services for...