As Greece prepares to implement the European Regulation for Nature Restoration, the partners of the ARTEMIS Project met in early March in Crete with representatives of local stakeholder groups to jointly shape an institutional framework and explore alternative financing mechanisms for the restoration of Posidonia.
The Green Tank, in collaboration with the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR), convocaron en la Cámara de Comercio de Heraclión el taller titulado «Restauración de praderas de posidonia: marco institucional, desafíos y perspectivas», que contó con la presencia de proyecto.
representantes de la Region of Crete, the Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency (NECCA), the Decentralized Administration of Crete, the University of Crete , and other stakeholders, as well as representatives from the consortium driving the ARTEMIS project. The aim of the workshop was to understand the existing institutional framework, identify challenges, and outline the perspectives that arise following the adoption of the Nature Restoration Law, so that, starting with Crete, the foundations for the effective restoration of Posidonia meadows throughout Greece can be laid.
Nikos Xylouris, Deputy Regional Governor for the Environment of the Region of Crete –an entity associated with ARTEMIS– stated in welcoming the participants: 'Given that the great environmental value of Posidonia meadows has been widely recognized in recent years, the Interreg Euro-MED ARTEMIS project is of great importance and interest. The Region of Crete, understanding the enormous environmental relevance of these meadows, has supported this project from the very beginning. We hope that the initiative will provide clear guidelines for restoration, so that we have a tool for the protection and promotion of these areas.
Durante la sesión, se trabajó con los actores locales en la identificación de los pasos necesarios para conformar el nuevo marco institucional. En este sentido, Dimitra Syroy, asociada de Políticas de la Naturaleza de The Green Tank, afirmó que «la restauración de la naturaleza es un nuevo campo de acción, y esto supone en sí mismo un desafío. Aprovechando la experiencia y la respuesta positiva de los actores involucrados, hemos identificado las posibles autoridades u organismos competentes, así como las etapas de implementación y monitoreo de las acciones de restauración. De este modo, estamos un paso más cerca de formular propuestas para un marco institucional realista y viable para la restauración de la posidonia”.
For her part, Evgenia Apostolaki, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Oceanography of HCMR, emphasized that 'today, we have sufficient knowledge to carry out pilot projects for nature protection and restoration, and we are constantly enriching it. With projects like ARTEMIS, we are working in this direction. What is now needed is to implement policies that reinforce protection, eliminate pressures, and create the institutional framework for active restoration.”
Durante el taller se incidió en esquemas de financiación alternativos para promover este tipo de acciones, como los pagos por servicios ecosistémicos (PES) —incentivos financieros a individuos, comunidades u organizaciones para gestionar ecosistemas de manera sostenible—. Para la posidonia, los servicios ecosistémicos considerados en el marco del proyecto ARTEMIS son la captura y almacenamiento de carbono, la conservación de la biodiversidad y el desarrollo de actividades recreativas y turísticas. Los PES buscan asignar un valor monetario tangible a los beneficios proporcionados por las praderas marinas, lo que puede atraer inversiones públicas y privadas, que son cruciales para implementar prácticas sostenibles y garantizar la gestión a largo plazo de estos valiosos ecosistemas.
"Through interaction with local stakeholders, we can adapt the financing schemes proposed by the ARTEMIS project for the restoration of Posidonia to the conditions of each area, which will increase their acceptance and effectiveness," emphasized David Álvarez García, Executive Director of Ecoacsa.
"Some topics discussed during the workshop focused on key challenges for implementing PES, including transparency—the need for standardized metrics to report the state of biodiversity; economic benefits—clear financial incentives for nature custodians; and business regulation—aligning corporate objectives with regulatory requirements and verification and monitoring. Other highlighted challenges include natural capital accounting to identify, quantify, and value impacts, which allows integrating the value of natural resources into decision-making. Lastly, business models—long-term financing plans for restoration—also pose a significant challenge. Therefore, the ARTEMIS project seeks to develop innovative techniques to integrate them into policy formulation and investment decisions."
