Marine Sabres

Project Outline

From the air we breathe to the food on our tables, healthy, biodiverse, clean, and productive seas are vital to human well-being. Biodiverse marine ecosystems provide flows of ecosystem services that lead to goods and benefits for society, support human well-being, and enable economic sustainability and resilience. Yet the intensification of human activities, both on land and at sea, is accelerating marine biodiversity loss globally and within Europe. Human activities — including the direct exploitation of natural resources, tourism, coastal development, trade and transport, aquaculture, fisheries, agriculture and waste management — all place pressures on marine and coastal ecosystems, undermining biodiversity and the many benefits that it provides. 

To mitigate these pressures, effective management of marine and coastal environments is essential — not only to achieve international biodiversity goals (such as the EU Biodiversity Strategy), but also in combating the threats of climate change (e.g. ocean warming, sea level rise, acidification, increased storminess) and environmental degradation (e.g. pollution and eutrophication). Actions such as maintaining healthy fish stocks and choosing appropriate spaces for marine renewable energy can reduce human impact on the ocean while ensuring that human needs are met sustainably.

Marine SABRES (Marine Systems Approaches for Biodiversity Resilience and Ecosystem Sustainability) is a research project funded by the European Union  that aims to conserve and protect biodiversity by integrating healthy, sustainably-used ecosystems and a resilient blue economy. To do so, Marine SABRES brings together international experts across the biological and social sciences to improve the management of Europe’s oceans and seas.​