Context and project description

ARTEMIS is a project consisting of 10 partners and 3 associated partners. ARTEMIS integrates the societal and monetary values of ecosystem services (ES) from Posidonia seagrass meadows into policies and technical investments (cutting-edge restoration protocols), financial (first payment systems for environmental services (PES) targeting multiple ES), and relevant public and private investments to accelerate the restoration of Posidonia seagrass meadows in the Euro-MED area.

The project plans to implement 4 pilot projects covering all stages of restoration (from transplantation in degraded areas to the improvement of protected areas) and all policy levels (from the absence of restoration policies to protection decrees), leading to the following results for actors in restoration and the blue economy: public authorities, research centers, NGOs, businesses, tourism agencies:

1. >2 hectares of marine meadows restored with a yield of 10x in ES and an additional funding of 2 million euros secured by PES agreements.
2. Transnational results: i) Euro-Med action plan and map of opportunities for the restoration of seagrass meadows, ii) roadmap for the integration of seagrass meadows’ ES (Ecosystem Services) into businesses, iii) technical toolkit for the restoration of seagrass meadows, iv) actionable framework for the evaluation and storytelling of seagrass meadows, v) Ready-to-use guidelines for the MPAs of seagrass meadows.

The project consists of 10 project partners from 5 countries bringing multidisciplinary expertise (economics, ecology, policy, stakeholder engagement, innovation) to establish joint pilot projects, a peer-to-peer knowledge sharing program, and policy development, which can be replicated in the Euro-MED area.

Project’s objective

The main objective of this project is to accelerate the restoration of Posidonia seagrass meadows and the restoration of associated ecosystem services and ecological functions in the Euro-Mediterranean region by enhancing restoration techniques, developing financial solutions, and integrating the values of these seagrass meadows into policies and investment programs.

Plan Bleu in the project

Plan Bleu will lead the ARTEMIS project, building on its role as the Regional Activity Centre of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) of UNEP and its expertise in socio-economic benefit analysis in wetland restoration, ecosystem assessment, and policy development and enhancement. Plan Bleu will also lead Work Package 4 (WP4) on governance and public policies.

Expected results