The overall aim of the MARBEFES project 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 to enhance policy and governance to secure benefits for current and future generations. The project 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 partners (including the UEA), 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 in 12 transnational 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 aims to show 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 will advance our knowledge through linking marine biodiversity and its ecological structure and functioning to ecological and economic valuation.
Visit https://www.marbefes.eu to find out more about the project
Project Researchers:
Johanna Forster (DEV) – UEA PI
Silvia Ferrini (ENV)
Stefanie Nolte (ENV)
Kerry Turner (ENV)
Robert Nicholls (TYN)
