Safeguarding underground ecosystems from the negative impacts of human activities is essential to maintain the quality of drinking water. This is the main message of a letter published in December in the scientific journal Science, signed by sixty European researchers.
The initiative was led by Tiziana Di Lorenzo and Stefano Mammola, scientists from IRET-CNR and IRSA-CNR and from the NBFC (National Biodiversity Future Center) in Palermo, respectively.
The letter was addressed to representatives of the European Union with the aim of urging the adoption of adequate guidelines to protect underground water ecosystems. These environments are home to unique, pigment-free and often blind organisms, characterized by a slow and long-lived life, which provide ecosystem services crucial for human survival.
The news was reported on January 9 in the Pianeta 2030 section of the Corriere della Sera online, available at this link: