Launch of the Interreg Euro-MED Artemis project: A new dawn for the restoration of seagrass meadows

The 10 partners and three European associates of the Artemis Project consortium, co-financed by the Interreg Euro-MED Program, on March 13th, we celebrated the kickoff of the joint work we will be developing over the next three years. Our shared goal: To accelerate the restoration of Mediterranean seagrass meadows through innovative solutions based on ecosystem services, such as Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES).

From Ecoacsa and with the coordination of Plan Bleu as the Regional Activity Centre for the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) of UNEP, we will deploy together with Bax & Company, Comune di Monfalcone, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR), Menorcan Institute of Studies–Socio-environmental Observatory of Menorca (OSBAM), Instituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerza Ambientale (ISPRA),  MEDSEA Foundation, Denkstatt Bulgaria and The Green Tank the experience and talent of our multidisciplinary teams until June 2026. Together, we will work to integrate the value of seagrass meadow ecosystems into policies and investments, leveraging advanced marine restoration techniques and ecosystem service valuation.

The project is structured into four work packages (WP):

WP1. Pilot projects for the restoration of seagrass meadows to enhance ecosystem services. (lead by HCMR, MEDSEA and ISPRA)

WP2. Valuation of seagrass meadows and stakeholder engagement (lead by ISPRA and Ecoacsa)

WP3. Sistemas de PSE para praderas marinas (lead by Ecoacsa)

WP4. Policy, governance and impact (lead by Plan Bleu)

As part of the tasks led by Ecoacsa, the following are included:

• Development of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes in seagrass meadows as a mechanism to accelerate financial flows from public and private entities towards restoration projects.
• Design and testing of PES systems through various pilot projects in Menorca (Spain), Monfalcone and Sardinia (Italy), and Crete (Greece).
• Monitoring of ecosystem service baselines and creation of natural capital accounting tools for marine environments.

The expected outcomes of the collaboration among all partners of the Artemis Project include:

• A roadmap to integrate seagrass meadow ecosystem services into corporate investments.
• A Euro-MED action plan for the restoration of seagrass meadows.
• A toolkit for seagrass meadow restoration.
• A transnational framework to assess seagrass meadow ecosystem services.
• A guide to scaling up the payment for ecosystem services plan for seagrass meadows.

The associated entities of the project are Punta Campanella Marine Protected Area, the Regional Government of the Balearic Islands, y el Government of the Region of Crete.