The agreement will allow us to join forces in the follow-up of several pilot studies to assess ocean regeneration and restoration.
The ANERIS project, led by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), has established a collaboration with the OCEAN CITIZEN project, both financed by the Horizon Europe framework program, in which the projects will explore synergies for scientific, social and technological cooperation. Thanks to this agreement, both projects will go hand in hand in the follow-up of several pilot studies to evaluate the regeneration and restoration of the ocean.
Specifically, the ANERIS project will develop advanced tools and technologies for monitoring, researching and managing life in seas and oceans using a wide range of observation systems ranging from environmental genomics to detect DNA in water samples, to citizen science. One of the project's main objectives is to integrate all these methods into the concept of Operational Marine Biology (OMB).
The OMB makes it possible to generate information on oceanic life in near real time and in a reliable and accessible way. The development of different OMB products will make it possible to obtain ocean health indicators, opening the door to knowledge and rapid identification of trends and changes in ocean biodiversity and decision-making based on scientific evidence.
Like ANERIS, OCEAN CITIZEN represents a large consortium that aims to coordinate and apply holistic approaches to restore and adapt marine ecosystems. This 4-year project started, together with ANERIS, in January 2023. Both the regeneration of marine forests (mainly made up of plants, algae and animals) and the increase in the resilience of local communities are fundamental aspects of the initiative. Likewise, the project focuses on implementing tailor-made restoration plans for five points on the European coast, including actions to achieve large-scale regeneration.
With all this, this alliance will allow joining efforts to restore marine ecosystems through integrating different OMB products in the study of pilot areas where marine restoration is key.
On the other hand, both projects are strongly involved in creating, using and promoting participatory platforms and citizen science initiatives. In this sense, the MINKA citizen science platform, developed by the ICM-CSIC, will be key to monitoring biodiversity and the main environmental parameters in the pilot areas where restoration efforts occur.