MARine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning leading to Ecosystem Services

The European Union and its Member States (MSs) have a fundamental need to understand how biodiversity and ecosystem functioning must be maintained to ensure that they deliver ecosystem services, goods and benefits, which in turn must be sustainably used by society. Central to this, the MSs need to value these natural and social capital aspects of ecosystems. The overall aim of MARBEFES is to determine the links between the biodiversity and functioning of coastal and marine ecosystems and the resulting ecosystem services and societal goods and benefits. In this it will achieve ecological and socio-economic valuation through a validated set of innovative tools in a distributed toolbox (TRL 6) to enhance policy and governance to secure benefits for current and future generation.

MARBEFES will progress substantially beyond the current state-of-the-art understanding of the causes and consequences of the maintenance, loss and gain of biodiversity and ecological and economic value and the repercussions of this for the management and governance of European seas. Involving 23 highly experienced partners, the project outputs and outcomes are based on developing and validating a set of ecological, economic and socio-cultural valuation tools using existing and new information and data in 12 Broad Belt Transect case studies. These cover the breadth of European marine biodiversity, from the Arctic to semi-tropical areas, across dominant habitats and iconic species, and from shallow to deep areas and encompass a range of socio-economic contexts. As such, and through stakeholder co-creation for policy relevance, MARBEFES shows the tools to value different natural capital resources and inform planning from financial allocations to  management and with monetary and non-monetary benefits. In this, the project advances our knowledge through linking marine biodiversity and its ecological structure and functioning to ecological and economic valuation.

Project partners :

1. INSTYTUT OCEANOLOGII POLSKIEJ AKADEMII NAUK (IO PAN), PIC 999488971, established in ul. Powstancow Warszawy 55, SOPOT 81 712, Poland, the Coordinator 
2. E-SCIENCE EUROPEAN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM RESEARCH (LW ERIC), PIC 909022018, established in Plaza De Espana S/N, Sector Ii-Iii, Sevilla 41071, Spain, 
3. AKVAPLAN NIVA AS (APN), PIC 998425560, established in Hjalmar Johansensg 14, Tromso 9007, Norway,
4. STICHTING HUMMEL FOUNDATION FOR SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS (HuFoSS), PIC 892165843, established in Bronkhorstdreef 36, Roosendaal 4706vb, Netherlands,
5. KLAIPEDOS UNIVERSITETAS (KU), PIC 999904422, established in Herkaus Manto 84, Klaipeda 92294, Lithuania, 
6. TARTU ULIKOOL (UTARTU), PIC 999895013, established in Ulikooli 18, Tartu 50090, Estonia,
7. UNIVERSIDAD DE SALAMANCA (USAL), PIC 999846610, established in Calle Patio De Escuelas 1, Salamanca 37008, Spain,
8. CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE (CNR), PIC 999979500, established in Piazzale Aldo Moro 7, Roma 00185, Italy, 
9. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, DUBLIN (UCD), PIC 999974359, established in Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland,
10. INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE CERCETARE-DEZVOLTARE PENTRU GEOLOGIE SI GEOECOLOGIE MARINA-GEOECOMAR (GEOECOMAR), PIC 999461617, established in Dimitrie Onciul Street 23-25, Bucharest 024053, Romania,
11. UNIVERSIDAD DE CANTABRIA (UC), PIC 999880075, established in Avenida De Los Castros S/N, Santander 39005, Spain, 
12. AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS M.P. (CSIC), PIC 999991722, established in Calle Serrano 117, Madrid 28006, Spain,
13. ALFRED-WEGENER-INSTITUT HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM FUR POLAR- UND MEERESFORSCHUNG (AWI), PIC 999497507, established In AM HANDELSHAFEN 12, BREMERHAVEN 27570, Germany,
14. UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TRENTO (UNITN), PIC 999841954, established in Via Calepina 14, Trento 38122, Italy,
15. ABO AKADEMI (ABO), PIC 999903355, established in Domkyrkotorget 3, ABO 20500, Finland,
16. HELLENIC CENTRE FOR MARINE RESEARCH (HCMR), PIC 999577532, established in Leoforos Athens Sounio 46 7km, Attikia Anavissos 19013, Greece,
17. VLAAMS INSTITUUT VOOR DE ZEE (VLIZ), PIC 999599939, established in Wandelaarkaai 7, Oostende 8400, Belgium,
18. NOVA BLUE ENVIRONMENT (NBE), PIC 901664665, established in Rue Chery Rosette 14 Fond Lahaye, Schoelcher 97233, France, 
19. ASOCIACION BC3 BASQUE CENTRE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE – KLIMA ALDAKETA IKERGAI (BC3), PIC 998253579, established in Edificio 1 Planta 1 Parque Cientifico De Upv/Ehu Barrio Sarriena, Leioa 48940, Spain.

Associated Partners:

AP20 THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS (CEFAS), PIC 999904713, established in Area 1A, Nobel House, Smith Square 17, London SW1P 3JR, United Kingdom, 

AP21 UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA (UEA), PIC 999985611, established in Earlham Road, Norwich NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom, 

AP22 INTERNATIONAL ESTUARINE & COASTAL SPECIALISTS LTD (IECS), PIC 892197174, established in 31 Westlands Way, Leven, Beverley Hu17 5lq, United Kingdom.

Affiliated Partner: 

PP11.1 FUNDACION INSTITUTO DE HIDRAULICA AMBIENTAL DE CANTABRIA (FIHAC), PIC 941752728, established in Calle Isabel Torres 15 Parque Cientifico Y Tecnologico De Santa 39011, Santander Spain,