Understanding and assessing marine environmental status requires scientifically sound assessments based on quantitative monitoring of marine biodiversity. While the EU has some of the most monitored seas on the planet, inconsistencies in monitoring programmes, methodologies, and data quality and coverage represent a hindrance to informed policy decisions. It is therefore crucial to improve and harmonise the monitoring of marine biodiversity across Europe.
In this context, the European Commission, at the initiative of the Joint Research Centre, has launched an activity to address these inconsistencies and develop recommendations to improve and strengthen marine biodiversity monitoring across European marine waters.
During 2024, a collaborative study between the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, the study team, and relevant stakeholders, analysed the state of marine biodiversity monitoring in Europe with the aim to propose ways forward towards a future improved set-up, acknowledging existing initiatives and stakeholder needs.
This activity involved key players in the planning and implementation of marine biodiversity monitoring in Europe and the shared marine basins, including European Commission departments, European Agencies, EU Member State experts, Regional Sea Conventions, international agreements, existing major networks and initiatives, as well as scientists leading major research projects.
As part of the study, two workshops were co-organised by the Joint Research Centre and the study team:
The State of Marine Biodiversity Monitoring in Europe, 4-6 June 2024, online
The workshop aimed to gain a collective understanding of the current situation in marine biodiversity monitoring in Europe, focusing on existing gaps and challenges in monitoring methodologies and current data pathways. More than 130 experts and stakeholders from Europe and beyond attended the online workshop, engaging in dynamic technical discussions and providing valuable input to help improve the preliminary assessment and hinting towards potential solutions to overcome some of the current challenges in marine biodiversity monitoring.
The Future of Marine Biodiversity Monitoring in Europe, 5-7 November 2024, Sitges (Spain)
The second workshop aimed to establish a collective direction for the future of marine biodiversity monitoring in Europe through dedicated discussions on recommendations and solutions to improve monitoring strategies and optimise marine biodiversity data pathways. Around 70 experts and stakeholders from Europe and beyond attended the workshop, engaging in dynamic discussions that enabled a large-scale review and consolidation of preliminary recommendations for improving existing data pathways (from collection to transfer and final use for policy purposes).
This side event during the United Nations Ocean Conference 2025 (UNOC3) provides the outcome from the multi-stakeholder initiative of the European Commission Joint Research Centre, analysing the state of Marine Biodiversity Monitoring (MBM) in Europe and beyond, and brings it into the global context. Besides ACTeon, ICM-CSIC and the University of the Aegean, as part of the MBM study team, OBIS and WORMS will co-host the event, with IUCN, and other global stakeholders participating. Marine biodiversity monitoring is essential to the implementation of policies aiming at preserving a healthy and productive ocean, requiring thoughtful coordination at large scale. The UNOC3 conference is a unique occasion to enable and further the discussion on key challenges that need to be considered when shaping the future of marine biodiversity monitoring, from organisational, research, technological, implementation and data management perspectives.
The study was a collaboration between the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and a consortium of institutions led by ACTeon (France) and with the Institut de Ciències del Mar of Barcelona of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ICM-CSIC, Spain), the Estonian Marine Institute of the University of Tartu (EMI-University of Tartu, Estonia) and the Department of Marine Sciences of the University of the Aegean (DMS-University of the Aegean, Greece) as partners. The study, launched by the European Commission, was co-implemented by the Joint Research Centre and the consortium, and managed by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).
