[attach id=256258 size="medium"]The Perseus project workshop formed part of activities held in Malta last week to mark European Maritime Day.[/attach]
Must we take action against marine degradation? Is marine protection really a good social investment? Shall we invest in marine protected areas?
Policymakers want to protect Europe’s seas, but they also need to factor in the economic aspects of these measures. Scientists and socio-economists are working together, under the Policy-oriented Marine Environmental Research in the Southern European Seas (Perseus) project, to help provide policymakers with key insights and recommendations for marine and maritime sustainable growth.
Perseus is a large-scale research project funded by the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Research Programme. Project co-ordinator Evangelos Papathanassiou explained that the project is a first of its kind in that it specifically targets its results for policymakers, giving them a complete set of tools for designing an effective and innovative evidence-based marine governance framework, specifically tailored for the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
The project brings together over 300 scientists from 53 partners organisations in 21 countries. The Maltese partner is the International Ocean Institute – Malta Operational Centre (IOI-MOC) at the University.
Malta reaps many benefits from the sea, but it also has a larger portion of the sea to protect compared to its land mass. Its 12 nautical miles of territorial waters occupy an area 14 times greater than Malta’s land mass.
According to Alan Deidun from the IOI-MOC: “Malta’s compliance with a number of onerous EU directives, namely the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, places on the island a considerable burden on its limited resources. Participation in a prestigious project like Perseus will bring much needed foresight in the field of marine management and policy-making to the Maltese islands.”
As part of European Maritime Day last Monday various activities were held in Malta, including a workshop for local marine stakeholders to raise awareness on marine environment issues. The key project findings to date were also promoted at an exhibition stand and through a presentation to international stakeholders.
For the latest information on the Perseus project’s activities, findings and useful tools, visit www.perseus-net.eu. For more information contact Martha Papathanassiou, communication coordinator, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, on e-mail mpapath@hcmr.gr.