Valasia Iakovoglou

Title : Nature-based solutions for sustainable management of ecosystems

Abstract:

Nowadays, adverse climatic conditions pose many obstacles to achieve sustainably management of ecosystems.  Extreme weather events, specifically intense rainfalls events may result to catastrophic floods. Further, factors such as increased agricultural activities, deforestation and wildfires also result to excessive erosion rates. At this study, preliminary results are presented on research that was conducted for the Aggitis Basin, located at the prefecture of Eastern Macedonia in Northern Greece. In order to identify the pollution sources, the study areas were selected based on land use characteristics, such as dominant vegetation and soil type. The categorized land uses were, natural areas of sclerophyllous vegetation, rangeland, agricultural and riparian vegetation. Based on erosion “pin-measurements”, the land use that contributed the least sedimentation and reflected a “nature-based solution” scenario, were the areas with the riparian vegetation. On contrary, the rangeland, the agricultural and the areas with sclerophyllous type of vegetation contributed the most pollutants. Consequently, specific land uses were more prone to increased levels of erosion (e.g., agricultural). So, those areas require further action, such as introduction of nature-based solutions in order to mitigate non-point source pollutants reaching the sea bodies.

Biography:

Dr. Valasia Iakovoglou is a distinct graduate of Iowa State University, USA. She has more than 25-yrs of national/international research and teaching experience as an Ecophysiologist/Silviculture expert in seedling production and Restoration/Conservation of Ecosystems with emphasis on Biodiversity under the challenges of Climate Change. She has received numerous scholarships, awards and recognitions. She is an editor of more than ten international journals and a reviewer in more than fifteen, as well as a reviewer at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). She has more than 100 publications (books/book chapters, peer-reviewed scientific articles) and more than 20 international projects. She is active in many scientific societies such as the Mediterranean Experts of Climate and environmental Change (MedECC) and the International Network of Bioresource Management (INBM). She holds leading positions such as: Director of Ecotourism Sector of the UNESCO chair Con-E-Ect; Executive Board of Directors of Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network Global (GCSAYN) in Africa; “General Secretary” of associations such as the “Association of Inter-Balkan Woman’s Cooperation Societies (AIWCS)” of UNESCO Center for the peace in the Balkan area; International Council of World Tourism Forum Institute; Country Chair of Greece of the G100 Women of the World serving as for Farming and AgriTourism