On May 22nd, 2024, from 14:00 to 15:00 CEST, we will host the Atlantic & Arctic Weekly Hour featuring the MERCES and REDRESS Projects. Professor Roberto Danovaro, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, will discuss ecosystem restoration efforts that have expanded rapidly in multiple marine habitats. The availability of new approaches and technologies is allowing restoration interventions from shallow to deep-sea environments. New monitoring tools allow to follow the restoration trajectories and create new opportunities, but effective restoration science and practice require a careful assessment of the success and failures to incentivise public and private investments.
MERCES project has explored the potential of restoration actions in shallow soft and hard bottoms (including mesophotic) and deep-sea habitats at pan-European scale, from Norway to Turkey. MERCES is giving a special attention on the most fragile and vulnerable habitats, including seagrass meadows, algal and kelp forests, coralligenous outcrops, cold-water corals, canyons, seamounts and fjords in 25 different pilot areas. More than 20 protocols (species translocation and transplanting, seedling and grazer removal, artificial biodegradable substrates) for restoration have been tested to increase restoration efficiency and to identify the criteria for the selection of target species and habitats.
The REDRESS project aims to provide a key contribution to the EU commitments towards restoring degraded ecosystems, especially in the deep sea. REDRESS will provide solutions to prioritize future restoration actions, extend deep-sea restoration to previously neglected habitat types, and demonstrate the feasibility, potential, and value for success of deep-sea ecosystem restoration. The project will focus on habitats that have great potential to contribute to carbon sequestration and climate mitigation but have been degraded by deep-sea fishing, especially trawling. Specifically, we will study vulnerable marine ecosystems, including sea pens and bamboo corals on soft sediments, coral gardens, cold-water coral reefs, sponge fields, and cold seeps. REDRESS will map degraded deep-sea habitats and identify habitat refugia to prioritize restoration efforts that will adapt to future scenarios of climate change. To adopt and adapt cutting-edge solutions for both restoration interventions and monitoring, REDRESS will make a significant technological investment and will benefit from a relevant ship time by in-kind contribution (136 days). REDRESS will offer nature-based solutions to public authorities and operators to advance ecosystem restoration in the deep sea. Building on the MERCES experience, REDRESS will go beyond the state of art, either developing new methodologies, using sophisticated technologies, defining success indicators, and expanding the target habitats also to cold seeps. The results will enable a significant advancement in the EU's marine restoration strategy. The project will also provide socio-economic data, protocols, and tools to plan, and upscale restoration interventions in deep-sea habitats. Finally, REDRESS will provide novel insights into the advantages and limits of active vs passive deep-sea restoration, and related cost-benefit analysis of restoration in different deep-sea habitats supporting policies and decision makers in the future application of the Nature Restoration Law.
Programme (CEST):
14:00-14:05: Welcome, Jose Luiz Moutinho, AIR Centre
14:05-14:45: The Challenge of The Marine Ecosystem Restoration in EU Seas, Prof. Roberto Danovaro, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona.
14:45-15:00: Q&A, moderated by Jose Luiz Moutinho, AIR Centre
15:00: Closing, Jose Luiz Moutinho, AIR Centre
More information, including speaker profile can be found here: bit.ly/wh-merces
Relevant links:
MERCES
Website: www.merces-project.eu/
X: / merces_eu
KZfaq: / @mercesproject9273
Facebook: / merces.eu.project
REDRESS
Website: redress-project.eu/
X: / redressp
Instagram: / redressproject2024
Facebook: / redress.project.eu
LinkedIn: / redress-project-26b752305
Mission Ocean and Waters:
Website: missionoceanwaters.eu/#/
x: / ourmissionocean
LinkedIn: / missionocean
BlueMissionAA:
Website: bluemissionaa.eu/
X: / bluemissionaa
LinkedIn: / bluemissionaa
Facebook: / bluemissionaa
Instagram: / bluemissionaa
KZfaq: / @bluemissionaa-csa
AIR Centre:
Website: www.aircentre.org/
KZfaq: / @aircentre
Hashtags: #BlueMissionAA #HorizonEurope #missionocean #restoration #ecosystemrestoration