About

‘Open environmental eFolio for joint maritime spatial planning and conservation of the valuable Black Sea Basin marine ecosystems’ or MARMAPS addresses the environmental issues of the Black Sea. Its large marine ecosystem is under pressure from human activities resulting in nutrient overabundance, high exploitation of living resources and unstable environmental state.

MARMAPS aims to raise awareness of the importance of conserving the Black Sea’s valuable ecosystems and to engage decision-makers in the development of maritime spatial planning solutions that promote the conservation and restoration of marine biodiversity. This will be achieved by improving access to open scientific data and tools, and by involving stakeholders in improving the conservation framework for marine protected areas (MPAs) at the sea basin level.

A key joint output of the cooperation between project partners from Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Ukraine is an environmental electronic eFolio. It will provide a solution for cost-effective achievement of national and regional conservation targets for marine ecosystems and continuous flow and sustainability of natural resources, while accounting for cumulative impacts from human activities and climate risks. Its components include a decision support system, monitoring protocol templates, citizen science tools and good governance practices for MPAs. A regional networking event at the end of the project will bring together stakeholders involved in marine biodiversity protection to promote the eFolio, and ensure the long-term impact of the project by establishing a network of actors involved in MPA governance at regional level.

Expected project results include a mechanism for exchange and long-term support between members of the target groups and end-users to promote Black Sea biodiversity and nature protection, as well as improved capacity for planning, monitoring, reporting and governance of MPAs.