I spend much of my free time in the wild areas of Sardinia and Lombardy, appreciating their unique environments and endemic species. I am very concerned about the loss of biodiversity (in the sampled areas, among others, the monk seal was present until a few decades ago) and the presence of invasive species (starting with our own).

I think this is a great project and very important to get a better idea of all exotic species and the potential impact on the local ecosystem. I am surveying this area already since decades, seeing many interesting changes. This eDNA project would be an important addition to this.

My colleague Torbjørn Ekrem informed me about BGE. I am an amateur entomologist that lives in the city of Kristiansand on the south coast of Norway. I have a special passion for Lepidoptera, particularly the small and inconspicuous micros which are very diverse in many habitats. I enjoy collecting, preparing and identifying insects and have participated in DNA barcoding projects since 2005. Over the last few years, I’ve collected and identified many interesting and new species both in Norway and abroad.

What motivated us to participate in this project was the fact that we are marine biologists and have worked in an environmental monitoring program for the Port of Sines for many years, and this type of methodologies are new for us. So we were curious about the results that can be obtained, and to compare them to the biodiversity we identify morphologically in our studies.

The Tatra National Park, as a state institution established to protect nature in the Tatra area, is interested in all organisms living in the Tatras, regardless of their size or position in systematics. They constitute a very complex ecosystem whose interrelationships between organisms we are only just trying to understand.

Moths are both simply and complexly fascinating.

As an educational institution, we are passionate about the sea and actively participate in various projects related to the marine environment and the blue economy. We value practical learning experiences for our students and encourage their involvement in international citizen science initiatives. Our goal is to provide them with real-world experiences that enhance their learning and foster their engagement in marine conservation.

Our team became involved in the barcoding of Orthoptera of Poland, with the hope that within a few seasons, we would be able to obtain most of the species for study – which we succeeded in doing! We realise that this is the beginning of this type of research in our country, and the material collected will be the starting point, for more detailed genetic research on these fascinating insects!