LifeWatch Belgium,
supporting your biodiversity
& ecosystem research
LifeWatch Belgium,
supporting your biodiversity
& ecosystem research
LifeWatch Belgium,
supporting your biodiversity
& ecosystem research
LifeWatch Belgium,
supporting your biodiversity
& ecosystem research
User stories
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Forum for Science, Doubt & Art 
Forum for Science, Doubt & Art
The GUM (Ghent University Museum & Botanical Garden) is the first officially recognized university museum in Flanders. Located in the heart of the University’s Botanical Garden, a green gem in the city of Ghent, the museum and garden form a unified entity. Together, the GUM and the Botanical Garden...
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Understanding mass mortality in saiga antelope population 
Understanding mass mortality in saiga antelope population
The Saiga antelope is an endangered species that lives in Central Asian steppes and semi-arid regions. Scientists around the world are working tirelessly to prevent it from becoming completely extinct. Every year, they migrate approximately 500 km from north to south, and back. In 2015, roughly 60%...
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Taking the next step: In-situ imaging data through the Video Plankton Recorder 
Taking the next step: In-situ imaging data through the Video Plankton Recorder
Zooplankton and phytoplankton are essential to coastal ecosystems, playing crucial roles in marine food webs. Environmental changes like climate change and pollution threaten these delicate communities, making monitoring crucial. The Video Plankton Recorder (VPR), integrated with LifeWatch...
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SeaWatch-B citizen science data confirm climate change 
SeaWatch-B citizen science data confirm climate change
The first report "What is the state of the North Sea?" by the LifeWatch citizen science project SeaWatch-B shows that the Belgian North Sea is affected by human activities, more in particular climate change. Cold-water species such as the North Sea shrimp are decreasing in number compared to a...
Innovative approaches
Data & services
Biogeographic services
Biodiversity Observatory automation services
LifeWatch ERIC
LifeWatch ERIC is the European Research Infrastructure Consortium providing e-Science research facilities to scientists investigating biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services in order to support society in addressing key planetary challenges.
LifeWatch Belgium, also called the National Distributed Centre for LifeWatch Belgium combines the regional and federal LifeWatch contributions from Belgium.
Latest news
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NELOS divers use WoRMS in digital dive log: a step toward citizen science 
NELOS divers use WoRMS in digital dive log: a step toward citizen science
The Flemish diving federation NELOS vzw (Dutch-speaking League for Underwater Research and Sports) has recently integrated the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) into its internal platform DIVES — a Digital Verification System used to log tens of thousands of dives each year. -
Sevenfold increase in stinging weever fish observed by SeaWatch-B 
Sevenfold increase in stinging weever fish observed by SeaWatch-B
Between April and late June this year, weever fish counts were seven times higher than during the same period in 2024, according to SeaWatch-B, the citizen science project of the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) under the LifeWatch Belgium Programme. -
Awardees for the 2025 WoRMS Achievement & Early Career Researcher Award known 
Awardees for the 2025 WoRMS Achievement & Early Career Researcher Award known
This year, Sammy De Grave has been honored with the WoRMS Achievement Award, and the WoRMS Early Career Researcher Award goes to Sávio Gabriel Gomes Pereira. -
Noise pollution in the North Sea 
Noise pollution in the North Sea
The North Sea is one of the busiest seas in the world. All this human activity creates a lot of noise underwater. This can have harmful consequences for marine mammals and other organisms in our sea. Fortunately, measures exist to limit noise pollution. The Marine Environment Service (FOD Public Health) and DG Shipping (FOD Mobility), with the support of LifeWatch VLIZ, collaborated on a campaign to raise awareness about underwater noise pollution among the wider public.
Events
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World Conference on Marine Biodiversity 2026 
17 Nov 2026World Conference on Marine Biodiversity 2026
The seventh edition of the World Conference will fly the UN Ocean Decade flag, as it has been end
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The LifeWatch ERIC Biodiversity & Ecosystem eScience Conference 
30 Jun 2025The LifeWatch ERIC Biodiversity & Ecosystem eScience Conference
Addressing the Triple Planetary Crisis
The Biodiversity and Ecosystem eScience Co
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Citizen Science Fair 