Understanding and Valuing Coastal and Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services

Deadline: 06-Oct-21

The European Commission (EC) is offering grants for Understanding and valuing coastal and marine biodiversity and ecosystems services.

It is critical to improve the knowledge and understand and model marine biodiversity as soon as possible. Proposals should address all of the following aspects:

• Increase understanding of the dynamics of marine biodiversity and ecosystems processes and functioning (including primary production, food webs and biogeochemical cycles) in Europe, in its outermost regions and overseas countries and territories, whose participation is encouraged, and in areas beyond national jurisdictions.
• Ensure that new modelling and scenario approaches integrate new and existing biodiversity data and knowledge from other EU, international and national projects and from long-term ecosystem and socio-ecological research infrastructure on species, biotopes and ecosystem processes.Genomics and taxonomic technologies for the inventory and fast identification of marine species from microbes, plankton and invertebrates to migratory species (including diadromous species), apex predators such as sharks and mammals, corals and other habitat building species, generating reference datasets from identified voucher specimens and novel methods to improve biodiversity monitoring and inventory.
• Increase understanding of how input from freshwater and estuarine systems influence coastal marine communities and their ecosystem functionality.
• Use acoustic and non-invasive monitoring as an integral component of any marine ecosystem exploration and assessment.
• Develop methods and indicators for regular and timely integrated assessments of the state / health of marine biodiversity and its key ecosystem services, in the EU and associated countries’ marine waters (Good Environmental Status) and in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
• Contribute to the Global Taxonomy Initiative of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and to free and open access to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility’s biodiversity data.
• Identify opportunities for cooperation with relevant projects, such as EUROPABON, which was awarded funding under the call ‘SC5-33-2020: Monitoring ecosystems through research, innovation and technology’, or the projects resulting from topics under the Heading ‘Understanding biodiversity decline’” in Destination ‘Biodiversity and ecosystem services’ as well as topics from Destination ‘Fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food systems from primary production to consumption’ (aquaculture, fisheries), Destination ‘Circular economy and bioeconomy sectors’ (biotechnologies, microbiome), Destination ‘Land, ocean and water for climate action’ (Carbon cycle and natural processes) and Destination ‘Innovative governance, environmental observations and digital solutions in support of the Green Deal’ (environmental observation).
• Cooperation is also expected with the Biodiversity Partnership and other relevant Horizon Europe missions and partnerships.
• Proposals should outline a plan on how they intend to collaborate with other projects selected and with the initiatives mentioned, by e.g. participating in joint activities, workshops, common communication and dissemination activities, etc.
• Applicants should allocate the necessary budget to cover the plan.
• The plan’s relevant activities will be set out and carried out in close co-operation with the relevant Commission departments, ensuring coherence with related policy initiatives.
• Where relevant, create links, contributing to and using the information and data of the European Earth observation programme Copernicus, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), the European Space Agency’s Earth Observation Programme and in particular the flagship actions on biodiversity and ocean health of the EC-ESA Joint Earth system science initiative, is expected.
• Improve professional skills and competences on marine taxonomy and system thinking.
• Engage in cooperation with the EC Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity and other relevant existing platforms and information sharing mechanisms.
• Contribute through education and training (school & ocean literacy, art and citizen science platforms) to a greater overall societal and public understanding of the link between biodiversity and the functioning of ecosystems.

Funding Information

The check will normally be done for the coordinator if the requested grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000, except for:

• public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
• cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (lowvalue grant).

Expected Outcomes

• In support of the implementation of the Green Deal and the biodiversity strategy, and in order to better understand biodiversity decline, its main direct drivers and their interrelations, successful proposals will contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Closure of the gap in the knowledge and exploration of marine and coastal biodiversity at the level of species, the intraspecific/genetic level, ecosystems, functionalities, trophic-interactions and interconnections across temporal and spatial scales;
• New theoretical frameworks for the organisation of marine biotic communities, with key species, from microbiome to megafauna, from benthic to pelagic, especially invertebrates and apex predators, and considering sex segregation determined by environmental parameters, in space and time and the ecosystem processes linking them (energy and biogeochemical cycles, including the role of migratory species behaviour ), from deep sea to coastal biotopes including intertidal areas
• Ocean health prediction (including climate change vulnerability), decision-making and policy implementation supported by the full integration of ecological components with physical and geochemical components (in four dimensions: surface, water columns, seafloor, time) into improved global and regional high-resolution models of ecosystems conditions and dynamics;
• Improved detection and monitoring of invasive alien species, assessment of their impact on biodiversity and conservation monitoring of endangered species;
• Natural capital accounting with an estimation of the value and co-benefits of services from healthy deep sea to coastal ecosystems, including non-financial benefits such as well-being and social and cultural values for policy and decision-making; development of a common EU methodology and criteria for the non-financial ecosystem benefits;
• Improved science-based maritime spatial planning and identification of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas and design of Marine Protected Areas.

• the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
• the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
• eligible non-EU countries:
  • countries associated to Horizon Europe;
  • low- and middle-income countries.

For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2V9PWe8