SANTO 2006
Nature abounds in Espiritu Santo, an island in the Southern Pacific. At the heart of biodiversity, it hosts ‘Santo 2006’, a project that will lay the foundation of a scientific study surpassing everything done in this field: an intensive inventory of worldwide biodiversity.
160 researchers from 25 countries combine their forces and their knowledge to develop and apply all kinds of research methods aiming at an accelerated description of life’s variety. This huge project is therefore organised in several research teams, according to their expertises.
What is biodiversity?
The word ‘biodiversity’ consists of ‘bio’ – life – and ‘diversity'. It therefore concerns all living organisms and their variety (animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms). Biodiversity is explored at three levels: the ecosystems, the species within the ecosystems, and the genetic variety within those species.
Santo 2006
Biodiversity has become an extremely popular term over the last few years. A search engine can easily yield about 250,000,000 results. Unfortunately, the frequent use of this word contrasts sharply with our limited knowledge of life on earth.
Through the use of many diverse research methods, Santo 2006 is striving towards a better understanding of the true extent of the biodiversity components – in particular small marine and terrestrial animals - on our planet. Insects, crustaceans, molluscs… are groups that constitute the major part of life on earth, whether it comes to their species number, their total mass, or their role in the maintenance and the functioning of all ecosystems.
DThe foundation of this worldwide inventory is laid on Espiritu Santo (or "Santo" as it is affectionately called), a mountainous island in the Republic of Vanuatu. It is the perfect test site, since it has many important ecosystems.