Biodiversity and Environmental Management Centre (BIOGES)
The Biodiversity and Environmental Management Centre is a research centre belonging to the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. BIOGES was born in 2003 as result of the merger of two research groups with strong backgrounds and experience in different branches of environmental sciences.
BIOGES’s research activities are mainly linked to biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. BIOGES works to generate scientific and technical knowledge to improve environmental management in the Canary Islands and nearby geographic areas.
These action lines are complemented by education programmes to raise public awareness.
BIOGES develops both basic and applied sciences in four main areas.
1.- Environmental pollution.
The processes related to environmental pollution are studied, especially those that take place in the coastal environments. Development of new analytical methodologies and generation of marine pollution indicators are the main issues under study.
2.- Littoral conservation.
Littoral conservation diagnosis is developed, especially by the selection of indicators and regarding water quality, sediments and organisms. New bio- and environmental indicators are established, with the intention of supplying the needs of information in relation to the health of the environment.
3.- Sustainable management of protected areas
These areas need to contribute to local development and employment. This situation demands proper sustainable management of natural resources and human activities. BIOGES considers that the development of these requires basic knowledge on the ecosystems and valorisation of the protected areas and their resources, including geology and paleontology.
4.- Integrated coastal zone management
Providing knowledge for the conservation and sustainable management of these areas is a responsibility and challenge that the scientific community must answer. BIOGES is also working in this area, with a multidisciplinary approach, in close cooperation with regional and local goverments.
The BIOGES team is mainly concentrated in the fields of Conservation Biology and Environmental Pollution. The research actions of BIOGES, based on European environmental directives, are of potential application in other geographic areas.
