Université de Liège (ULg)
Full-time professor in the Biodiversity and Landscape Unit (with Professors G. Mahy and J. Bogaert) of Université de Liège – Gembloux Agro Bio Tech (GxABT) since 2013. In charge of the (e)valuation, quantification and mapping of ecosystem services and research on modeling and designing ecological networks optimizing biodiversity hotspots and ecosystem services providing for more resilient landscapes. Coordinator of the “Innovation and Creativity Team” set up to stimulate holistic research approaches and multidisciplinary projects between faculty departments and disseminate new ways to run research teams and projects. Webmaster of the blog “Biodiversité en Wallonie : quel avenir ?“
Project leader since 1998 of the biodiversity information system “Observatoire de la Faune, de la Flore et des Habitats” in Southern Belgium (SPW/DGARNE): Scientific coordination of biological research and monitoring programs dealing with nature conservation for the Walloon administration. Development of tools such as the standardized database system to record all biological data (“Data Fauna Flora”), scientific and field support for species and habitat monitoring (“Inventaire et Surveillance de la Biodiversité”, Natura 2000 monitoring protocol and conservation status analyses), biodiversity hotspots inventory (“Sites de Grand Intérêt Biologique”), Natura 2000 network design, ecological network concept’s definition (“Structure Ecologique Principale”) and a web portal to disseminate biological information (http://biodiversite.wallonie.be). Author and co-author of large-scale biodiversity restoration projects in the Ardennes (See, for example, the meta-project of peatbog restoration ) demonstrating that coordinated field actions and local actors’ involvement can restore landscape structure and a large diversity of ecosystem services (seven LIFE projects co-funded by EU, total budget > €25 million, > 6.000 ha restored, five of the seven projects have been elected “Best LIFE-Nature Projects” by the European Commission).
Faculty/Department: University of Liège at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech
Email: Marc.Dufrene@ulc.ac.be
URL: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/marc-dufr%C3%AAne/62/b5b/955
