Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Marine forest coastal restoration: an underwater gardening socio-ecological plan

Project description

Advancing active restoration to promote coastal and offshore resilience

The loss and degradation of European marine ecosystems is alarming, especially those dominated by marine forests (seagrasses, seaweeds, sponge grounds, coral and gorgonian forests, etc.). There is an urgent need to prevent, stop and reverse this degradation. Active restoration has emerged as a preferred tool to boost marine-protected areas, also connecting healthy habitats. Not only does restoration promote biodiversity, but it also enhances carbon sequestration and boosts coastal and offshore resilience. In this context, the EU-funded OCEAN CITIZEN project will develop a new approach in which restoration serves as a toolbox holding ubiquitous properties. For instance, a profession of "gardeners of the sea" will be created and endorsed, intended to recover the most neglected marine biomes, marine forests.

Objective

Following the non-achievement of the AICHI targets and most of the Good Environmental Status objectives for 2020, active restoration has been emerged (also envisaged by the EU) as one of the preferred tools that may boost sequels of marine protected areas and other conservation measures. Restoration acts promote biodiversity, enhance carbon sequestration and accelerate coastal and offshore resilience. Yet, we still lack a program that combines conservation and restoration under a unified setting, as the involvement of local citizen, embracing socio-economic parameters into opportunities. Thus, an advanced restoration program must conjoin ecological perspectives together with societal commitment and clear economic benefits for local communities. Above all, it must be designed with continuity beyond the lifespan of a project. Responding to the above, OCEAN CITIZEN proposal represent a novel restoration approach in which (1) restoration is depicted as a toolbox holding ubiquitous properties and as such it is experienced in 3 sites, representing different marine ecosystems (in one of the sites all tools are used in concert) and different environments: subtropical, tropical and cold temperate; (2) a profession of “gardeners of the sea” is created and endorsed, including detailed curriculum; (3) the project targets the restoration of the most neglected marine biome, encompassing the various types of Marine Forest (MF) organisms (seagrasses, seaweeds, sponges, corals, gorgonians, etc.);(4) new ecoengineering aspects are applied, including Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture and Smart Enhanced Reefs (SER); the SERs act as substrates for massive recruitment and transplantation of MF organisms (5) the is performed on land, and in situ, from shallow, mesophotic to continental shelf areas (to 90-100 meters depth); (6) a novel approach for C sequestering and sink (7) the full involvement of citizens and local stakeholders with a complete business plan.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-IA - HORIZON Innovation Actions

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MISS-2021-OCEAN-02

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

UNIVERSITA DEL SALENTO
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 696 065,13
Address
PIAZZA TANCREDI 7
73100 LECCE
Italy

See on map

Region
Sud Puglia Lecce
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 696 065,13

Participants (23)

Partners (1)

My booklet 0 0