Human activities and climate change are exerting increasing pressures that lead to the degradation of ecosystems and the loss of biodiversity, threatening essential goods and services for the planet, human life, and society. The BioProtect project seeks to develop new methodologies and strengthen the capacity to engage stakeholders, with the goal of monitoring and predicting changes in marine biodiversity, mapping human pressures, and assessing the ecological and socio-economic impacts of conservation actions, particularly those related to environmental protection and restoration.

The project’s activities will be demonstrated across five Atlantic sites, ranging from the Arctic to the Azores. The innovative and flexible BioProtect framework will integrate multi-source data across spatial scales tailored to each study region, incorporating diverse stakeholder perspectives and knowledge.

BioProtect will consider different scenarios, including those related to climate change, protection and exploitation strategies, and will evaluate their ecological and socio-economic impacts. The project seeks to collaborate closely with society and stakeholders, from ocean users to natural resource managers and policymakers. This will enable the effective implementation and adoption of the proposed solutions aimed at protecting and restoring marine ecosystems and biodiversity.

BioProtect has a total budget of €8 million, is coordinated by the Icelandic public research and development company Matís, and involves 18 partner institutions from 8 countries, including 5 Portuguese institutions.

BioProtect will provide innovative, replicable and scalable ecosystem-based solutions that will accelerate the protection and restoration of biodiversity in European seas, in line with the EU´s 2030 targets and the European Green Deal. Pressures from multiple human activities and climate change are driving ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss, threatening goods and services that are essential for human life and society. BioProtect aims to reduce these pressures by implementing an innovative area-based management decision support framework.