In October, BIOPOLIS and CSIC-ICM, partnering organisations within the ANERIS consortium, wrapped up their dedicated citizen science eDNA campaign, focused on monitoring biodiversity through the analysis of environmental DNA from water samples across Northern Portugal’s and Barcelona’s coasts. This eDNA campaign falls under ANERIS’ Case Study 4, titled Merging imaging and genomic information in different monitoring scenarios. The campaign spanned from 10th to 12th of October, gathering water samples at 9 diverse locations, where imaging data was also collected during the ANERIS-supported BioMARathons. 

Participants in the three-day event included university students, teachers, scouts groups and the general public, who all followed the Protocol developed in the ANERIS project and already tested at another campaign organised in June. The collected data can be used for further comparison and analysis in order to provide a more complete overview of the state of biodiversity in these specific regions. To set the stage for a better and more comprehensive biodiversity monitoring in Europe, the teams applied 7 technologies created with joint efforts by partner institutions within ANERIS.