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Making agriculture sustainable is a global challenge. In the European Union (EU), the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is failing with respect to biodiversity, climate, soil, land degradation as well as socio‐economic challenges. The European Commission's proposal for a CAP post‐2020 provides a scope for enhanced sustainability. However, it also allows Member States to choose low‐ambition implementation pathways. It therefore remains essential to address citizens' demands for sustainable agriculture and rectify systemic weaknesses in the CAP, using the full breadth of available scientific evidence and knowledge. Concerned about current attempts to dilute the environmental ambition of the future CAP, and the lack of concrete proposals for improving the CAP in the draft of the European Green Deal, we call on the European Parliament, Council and Commission to adopt 10 urgent action points for delivering sustainable food production, biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation. Knowledge is available to help moving towards evidence‐based, sustainable European agriculture that can benefit people, nature and their joint futures. The statements made in this article have the broad support of the scientific community, as expressed by above 3,600 signatories to the preprint version of this manuscript. The list can be found here (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3685632). A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Following PhD thesis work surveys on Monchiquense District, the presence of Quercus estremadurensis O. Schwarz was noticed in the catenal dynamics of Avenello strictae-Quercetum marianicae woodlands, ecologically related to freatic and temporihygrophilous positions. Thenceforth, it has been re-discovered, trough fieldwork and Herbaria research, in several biogeographic territories, namely in the Southwestern and Western part of Iberian Peninsula, following the border between Eurosiberian and Mediterranean macrobioclima-tes, as well as in relictual groves of semi-deciduous woodlands, in humid and hyperoceanic areas. Here, we combine the phytosociological methodology with species distribution modelling (SDMs) to clarify the sintaxonomic affiliation of these rare formations, and to present a spatially-explicit model for its potential distribution. BIOMOD2 ensemble modelling framework was implemented to build Q. estremadurensis potential distribution in the Iberian Peninsula, considering climate, slope, land use and soil, as ecologically relevant determinants, for the species distribution. In the lack of absence data, pseudo-absences have been randomly selected from the studied area excluding available presence points. The predictive performance per variable was assessed using a randomization procedure as implemented in BIOMOD2. Being present in several biogeographic territories, from Portuguese-Divisorian and Algarvian-Monchiquense Sub-Provinces, passing through Luso-Extremadurean and Carpetanan-Leonese ones, we analyze four possible syntaxons occurring in the frame of Quercion broteroi and Aceri granatensis-Quercion fagineae, deeply related to the biogeographic territories where they occur . Ecologically prone to streams and deep valleys, normally in the midst of Pruno-Rubion dense thorn-bushes, mature and pure woodlands are totally absent in all studied territories, due the heavy landscape transformation, which made this study and interpretation of these formations hard and tricky. Also, in the absence of phylogeographic and molecular essays, relating the independence or infra-specific range of Quercus estremadurensis O. Schwarz, inside the broad sense of Quercus robur L., this taxon faces great menace, mainly by introgression features with broad sense Quercus faginea Lam., Q. marianica C. Vicioso / Q. canariensis Willd. and also Q. pyrenaica Willd., Disclaimer: The presented PDF, has updated nomenclatural issues, linked with oak (Quercus L.) taxonomy and forest syntaxonomy in Southern Portugal, namely related with Campanulo alatae-Quercetum estremadurensis ass. nova, which autorship belongs to the present authors, but has been unethically plagiated by colleagues.

Chapter 1: Introducing biological invasions and the IPBES thematic assessment of invasive alien species and their control of the Thematic Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services., Suggested citation: Roy, H. E., Pauchard, A., Stoett, P., Renard Truong, T., Lipinskaya, T., and Vicente, J. R. (2023). Chapter 1: Introducing biological invasions and the IPBES thematic assessment of invasive alien species and their control. In: Thematic Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Roy, H. E., Pauchard, A., Stoett, P., and Renard Truong, T. (eds.). IPBES secretariat, Bonn, Germany. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7430723

A manutenção das Áreas Agrícolas de Elevado Valor (HNVf) e da agro-biodiversidade, nas zonas rurais da Europa, dependem da continuidade dos sistemas de produção agrícola de Elevado Valor Natural. No entanto, nas regiões montanhosas além das limitações biofísicas à produção agrícola, as alterações dos sistemas sócio-ecológicos levaram a mudanças nos usos do solo, com processos como a intensificação ou abandono agrícola a causar a perda de HNVf. Neste contexto, torna-se relevante contribuir para o conhecimento sobre a relação entre a gestão das práticas agrícolas e a biodiversidade, para que possam reverter-se as tendências de perda de HNVf e contribuir para políticas mais eficientes. Tendo como objetivo caracterizar as HNVf relativamente à diversidade de flora, utilizou-se uma base de dados pré-existente, em que 24 áreas dispersas ao longo dos gradientes ambientais mais relevantes na Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Vez, foram alvo de levantamentos florísticos exaustivos. As amostras foram classificadas em HNVf e não-HNVf, de acordo com a cobertura apresentada. Posteriormente, de acordo com o conhecimento ecológico disponível, selecionaram-se dez variáveis sócio-ecológicas e realizaram-se análises uni- e multivariadas, de acordo com os objetivos definidos para este trabalho. Analisou-se, ainda, o potencial da agricultura biológica para o valor natural das paisagens agrícolas. O estudo permitiu concluir que, na área de estudo, os padrões de diversidade da flora são maioritariamente determinados por fatores climáticos e de uso do solo. A análise dos valores de riqueza específica resultou em valores mais elevados de espécies endémicas em Áreas Agrícolas de Elevado Valor Natural. A média de espécies endémicas por amostra em HNVf é de aproximadamente 16,47 (min: 8; max: 25) e em zonas não-HNVf é de 13 (min: 8; Max: 18). Foram identificados habitats pertencentes à Diretiva 92/43/CEE- Habitats, especificamente zonas de charneca e matos temperados do tipo urzais-tojais, bosques cauducifólios, bosques ripícolas e prados. Nesta região da bacia hidrográfica do Rio Vez existe uma relação positiva do sistema de produção biológica na manutenção de áreas de HNVf1. Certas freguesias, incluídas parcialmente na área de estudo, apresentaram percentagens de partilha de áreas MPB-HNV superiores a 10%, por ordem decrescente, Merufe (16,1%-10,0%), Anhões e Luzio (14,8%-12,0%) e Gave (11,2%-32,5%). Esta relação poderá ser justificada através da produção animal extensiva, que contribui para a preservação de pastagens permanentes compostas por vegetação herbácea e arbustiva e vegetação esclerófila. Maintenance of High Nature Value farmland (HNVf) and agro-biodiversity in Europe’s rural areas depend on the continuity of High Natural Value agricultural production systems. However, in mountainous regions beyond biophysics limitations to agricultural production, changes in socio-ecological systems have led to changes on soil usage, with processes such as agricultural intensification or abandonment causing the loss of HNVf. In this context, it becomes relevant to contribute to the knowledge on the relation between agricultural practices management and biodiversity so that we can revert the tendencies to lose HNVf and contribute to more efficient policies. Aiming to characterize HNVf relatively to flora diversity, a pre-existent database was used where 24 areas scattered along the most relevant environmental gradients of the drainage basin of Vez river were targeted for exhaustive floristic surveys. Sampled areas were classified as HNVf and non-HNVf accordingly to represented coverage. Furthermore, based on available ecological knowledge, various socio-ecological were selected and uni- and multivariance analysis were performed according to the present work’s goals. Organic agriculture potential for high natural value agricultural landscapes was also analysed. The present study allowed us to conclude that, in the sampled area, flora diversity patterns are mostly determined by climate factors and soil usage. Differences in specific richness values analyses resulted in higher values of endemic species in HVNf areas. Mean of endemic species per sample in HNVf was approximately 16,47 (min: 8; max: 25) and 13 (min:8; max:18) in non-HNVf samples. Moreover, habitats belonging to the Directive 92/43/CEE-Habitats were identified, specifically moorland and heather-gorse type temperate forests, deciduous groves, riparian groves and meadows. On the sampled region, the drainage basin of Vez river, there is a positive relation among organic production in maintaining HNVf type 1 areas, having obtained percentages of MPB-HNV areas shares above 10% in certain sampled parishes, which were as followed in descending order: Merufe (16,1%-10,0%), Anhões and Luzio (14,8%-12,0%) and Gave (11,2%-32,5%). This relation can be explained by an extensive animal production which contributes to the preservation of permanent pasture grasslands composed of herbaceous and shrubby vegetation and schlerophilic vegetation.