{"id":28120,"date":"2025-06-04T13:00:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T11:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/planbleu.org\/?post_type=offre-emploi-liste&p=28120"},"modified":"2025-06-05T15:58:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T13:58:07","slug":"developing-a-mediterranean-seagrass-restoration-map","status":"publish","type":"offre-emploi-liste","link":"https:\/\/planbleu.org\/en\/offre-emploi-liste\/developing-a-mediterranean-seagrass-restoration-map\/","title":{"rendered":"Developing a Mediterranean seagrass restoration map"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. Context\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

This consultation is published by Plan Bleu, Regional Activity Center of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP), established in the form of a French association in Marseille, France. The MAP is one of the main components of the Regional Seas Programme of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It has a legal instrument: the Barcelona Convention and relies on six regional activity centres (\u201cRACs\u201d) responsible in particular for promoting the implementation of the various protocols attached to the convention. Plan Bleu is one of the six centres mandated by the twenty-one countries Parties to the Barcelona Convention and the European Union (Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention). Plan Bleu acts as an observatory of the environment and sustainable development in the Mediterranean, and conducts thematic, systemic and prospective analyses to enlighten decision-makers of the region on the environmental risks and the challenges of sustainable development.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Mediterranean region, with its rich biodiversity and diverse ecosystems, is increasingly threatened by human activities and climate change. Seagrasses are one of the most productive and valuable ecosystems on Earth (Murphy et al., 2021; Valdez et al., 2020; van Katwijk et al., 2016). Numerous studies have recognized its ecological and economic value, which would disappear along with them, as they provide important ecosystem services such as, nutrient cycling, sequestration of carbon, a habitat for thousands of fish and invertebrate species and a source of food for many of them, among others (Bidak et al., 2021; Terrados et al., 2013). Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile is an endemic seagrass of the Mediterranean Sea which forms vast meadows (>2 million hectares) between the surface and 40 metres depth. This engineer species is the keystone of a major ecosystem, which offers several ecosystem services, due to its high primary production (a planetary scale), its biodiversity and its ability to store and sequester carbon for millennia. The main causes of the regression of the Posidonia meadows are associated with water quality, construction of coastal infrastructures, laying of underwater pipelines and cables, anchoring, aquaculture facilities and trawling. The species is relatively resistant to temperature variations and competition with alien species, whereas it is reported as to suffer from even slight fluctuations of salinity and turbidity, as well as the increase of sedimentation rate. In addition, Posidonia oceanica has a slow growth rate (on average between 100 and 1 000 cm per century) that makes recovery difficult when impacted. In fact, because of its intrinsic features and ecological needs, Posidonia meadows are exposed to multiple threats due to the strong and global anthropic pressure that characterises the Mediterranean as a whole. As the degradation of the Posidonia meadows concerns many Mediterranean countries, a regional approach is required to better protect the Posidonia meadows (Pergent-Martini C. et al., 2024).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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ARTEMIS is an Interreg Euro-MED thematic project running from 2024 to 2026 which aims at accelerating the restoration of seagrass meadows in the Mediterranean through innovative Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes and an ecosystem-based approach. Some of the ecosystem services that the project will focus on are habitat creation (biodiversity), carbon sequestration and storage (blue carbon), and recreation, including activities such as snorkelling and diving. The objective of the present call takes place in the framework of Activity 1.5 and aims\u00a0 to deliver an Online map showcasing other relevant restoration actions in the Euro Mediterranean area and beyond.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The objective of this activity is to design and deliver interactive online maps that highlights past and ongoing seagrass restoration initiatives, across the Euro-MED region and the South Mediterranean, with a focus on <\/span>Posidonia oceanica<\/span><\/i> meadows, but also other seagrass species, by June 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The map(s) will be used to :\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n