Protecting the Hidden Secret of the Aegean Sea: Coralligenous Habitats
Organization information
Pure Ocean
Location: Paris, France
Summary
Pure Ocean supports ambitious and innovative research projects in favour of biodiversity and the protection of marine ecosystems.
Purpose of this project : use innovative technologies to locate and monitor coralligenous reefs in the Aegean Sea, and enforce the trawling ban on these biodiversity hotspots.
The Mediterranean Sea hosts a hidden secret: coralligenous reefs, which thrive in dim light areas up to 250 meters deep. They are one of the most complex and rich habitats within the Mediterranean and yet one of the least studied and protected. The lack of knowledge regarding their distribution, along with increased anthropogenic pressures, threatens these slow-growing reefs (<1 mm / year), some of which have existed for over 7000 years. With the active engagement of local fisherfolk, the project aims to develop a methodology for small research vessels to better understand and preserve this fragile habitat in the Aegean Sea, especially by enforcing the trawling ban over these sites.
Pure Ocean is an NGO based in Marseille and Lorient, France. Pure Ocean mobilises civil society, in France and worldwide, in order to support ambitious and innovative projects to protect and restore biodiversity and fragile marine ecosystems.
TGE Partner: Fondation de France
Project locations
Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey