Press release
11 October 2024
Black Sea NGO Network, Bulgaria, with partners Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, NGO Mare Nostrum, Romania and Black Sea Branch of Ukrainian Environmental Academy of Sciences, Ukraine, have launched a new project ‘Open environmental eFolio for joint maritime spatial planning and conservation of the valuable Black Sea Basin marine ecosystems’ (MARMAPS) with support from Interreg NEXT Black Sea Basin Programme. The project aims to improve knowledge on how to conserve the valuable ecosystems of the Black Sea by providing digital tools for collaborative planning and restoring marine biodiversity. Its duration is 18 months and it has a total budget of 498 358 euro.
MARMAPS addresses the environmental issues of the Black Sea that have received much attention since the end of the last century. The large marine ecosystem is under strong pressure from human activities resulting in nutrient overabundance, high exploitation of living resources and unstable environmental state. In line with the targets set by the EU and the Convention on Biological Diversity, MARMAPS aims to provide solutions and tools that enhance our conservation capacity, further supporting scientifically sound and transparent approaches to achieving conservation objectives. Therefore, the ultimate goal of MARMAPS is to protect and promote biodiversity and natural heritage by supporting marine conservation initiatives at the regional level.
MARMAPS aims to raise awareness of the importance of conserving the Black Sea’s valuable ecosystems and to engage decision-makers in the development of maritime spatial planning solutions that promote the conservation and restoration of marine biodiversity. This will be achieved by improving access to open scientific data and tools, and by involving stakeholders in improving the conservation framework for marine protected areas (MPAs) at the sea basin level.
A key joint output of the cooperation between project partners is an environmental electronic eFolio. It will provide a solution for cost-effective achievement of national and regional conservation targets for marine ecosystems and continuous flow and sustainability of natural resources, while accounting for cumulative impacts from human activities and climate risks. Its components include a decision support system, monitoring protocol templates, citizen science tools and good governance practices for MPAs. A regional networking event at the end of the project will bring together stakeholders involved in marine biodiversity protection to promote the eFolio, and ensure the long-term impact of the project by establishing a network of actors involved in MPA governance at regional level.
Expected project results include a mechanism for exchange and long-term support between members of the target groups and end-users to promote Black Sea biodiversity and nature protection, as well as improved capacity for planning, monitoring, reporting and governance of MPAs.
MARMAPS project continues the tradition of cooperation between the partners and builds on their experience to develop and offer open access IT tools for innovative solutions and decision support, thus improving the access of regional stakeholders and the public to open scientific data and tools.
