Natural Heritage Monitoring

Melting ice is accelerating “last-chance tourism” in vulnerable Arctic heritage landscapes, where drifting icebergs reshape the environment. A 4 × 2 km iceberg near Greenland was tracked with satellite imagery and forecasted using ocean current and wind models in the NARVAL portal, combining observations and simulations to assess navigation risks.

Europe’s coastal landscapes, including several UNESCO-listed areas, are increasingly shaped by development and environmental change. Copernicus Land Monitoring provides detailed land-cover maps and change detection to support sustainable management and protection of these vulnerable zones.

Identifying habitat preferences of threatened species and comparing biodiversity in protected and unprotected sites supports data-driven conservation across Europe. Copernicus Land Cover datasets quickly characterise landscapes, aiding habitat preference studies and biodiversity comparisons.

The use case investigates the potential of a high-resolution physical and biogeochemical oceanographic modelling system to support the monitoring, management, and adaptive governance of Marine Protected Areas in the Azores, with a specific focus on Condor Seamount.

Sentinel-1 satellite mosaics monitor Brazil’s mangroves, the world’s largest continuous protected mangrove coastline. The data helps track ecosystem stability, seasonal change, and threats such as sea-level rise, coastal development, and shrimp farming, supporting long-term conservation.

Copernicus Global Land Hot Spot products support biodiversity protection in West and Central Africa by mapping land cover and change, training local users, and helping manage protected areas, habitats and landscapes, including sites with heritage value.