An Italian team will coordinate research on the Restoration of Deep-sea Habitats to Rebuild European Seas (Redress) as part of a project funded by 10 million euros of European Union money with 27 partners from 15 countries.
Marine biologist Roberto Danovaro of the Politecnica delle Marche University will be at the helm.
Over the next four years the Redress project will seek to make a fundamental contribution to the EU's efforts to restore degraded ecosystems, specifically deep-sea ones.
Following the recent approval of the Nature Restoration Law, Redress will provide solutions regarding the identification of priority areas for restoration activities, develop innovative and more economical methodologies for the restoration of deep-sea marine habitats and assess the results in terms of the recovery of biodiversity and ecosystem services and the economic returns on the investments made.
The project will be conducted in all of Europe's deep-sea environments, from the Mediterranean (the Gulf of Naples's Dohrn Canyon, and areas off the Catalan and French coast) to the hydrocarbon-rich sea beds between Cyprus, Israel and Egypt.
Other areas of focus will be Iceland, for the restoration of deep corals, the Bay of Biscay and the submarine mountains of the Azores, to name only some.