BirdWatch

BirdWatch is a Horizon Europe research and innovation project that developed a Copernicus-based decision support service for assessing and improving the suitability of farmland habitats for bird species. The platform combines Earth observation data, species distribution models, machine learning, and geospatial analysis to evaluate how agricultural landscapes support farmland biodiversity and to optimize Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) greening measures. The service is intended to support policymakers, paying agencies, conservation authorities, and farmers in designing and monitoring biodiversity-friendly agricultural practices while balancing ecological and economic objectives.

• Desktop/web-based application
• Remote sensing
• GPS
• GIS

BirdWatch combines Copernicus Sentinel Earth observation data, geospatial analysis, machine learning, species distribution modelling, and parcel-level GIS data to generate habitat suitability maps for farmland birds. The platform integrates agricultural parcel information with biodiversity models and optimization algorithms to recommend the most effective CAP greening measures while considering ecological benefits, operational constraints, and implementation costs. It is delivered as a web-based decision support service.

• Academia and research institutions
• Civil society organizations
• Agriculture cooperatives
• Public sector
• Private sector

The intended users include National and regional paying agencies; Ministries of Agriculture and environmental authorities; CAP policymakers; conservation agencies; researchers; farmers participating in agri-environmental schemes.

• Donor support

BirdWatch was funded under the Horizon Europe programme (Digital, Industry and Space – Copernicus applications), with a total project budget of EUR 2.58 million, including an EU contribution of EUR 2.25 million. As a research and innovation project, it was funded for the project period rather than maintained as a permanent public information system.

As a research project, BirdWatch demonstrated the technical feasibility of integrating Earth observation, biodiversity modelling, and CAP monitoring into a single decision support service. The project produced a prototype web platform and methodologies for habitat suitability assessment and optimization of greening measures. However, there is no published evidence yet of large-scale operational deployment or quantified impacts on biodiversity or CAP administration following the project's completion.