Marine Ecosystem Restoration in Changing European Seas (MERCES)

The MERCES project is focused on the restoration of different degraded marine habitats, with three main objectives:

1) assess the potential of different technologies and approaches;

2) quantify the returns in terms of ecosystems services and their socio-economic impacts;

3) define the legal-policy and governance frameworks needed to optimize the effectiveness of the different restoration approaches.

Specific aims include:

a) improving existing, and developing new, restoration actions of degraded marine habitats;

b) increasing the adaptation of EU degraded marine habitats to global change;

c) enhancing marine ecosystem resilience and services;

d) conducting cost-benefit analyses for marine restoration measures;

e) creating new industrial targets and opportunities.

To achieve these objectives MERCES created a multi-disciplinary consortium with skills in marine ecology, restoration, law, policy and governance, socio-economics, knowledge transfer, dissemination and communication.

MERCES contributes to the Blue Growth by improving the EU scientific knowledge on marine restoration, contributing to EU Marine Directives, implementing the Restoration Agenda, enhancing the industrial capacity in this field, increasing the competitiveness of EU in the world market of restoration, and offering new employment opportunities.

ECCA 2021 - Climate Adaptation solutions video - MERCES