News

Around thirty professionals from Spain, France, Greece, Bulgaria, the Municipality of Monfalcone, ISPRA, and representatives of the Government of the Balearic Islands gathered in Santa Teresa Gallura for the Consortium Meeting of the Interreg Euro-MED ARTEMIS project.

The meeting was held at the Capo Testa – Punta Falcone Marine Protected Area, a project pilot site and associated partner, in the conference hall of Hotel La Contessa. Coordinated by MEDSEA Foundation, project partner, the event marked a key milestone in the final semester of activities. This phase has been characterized by significant Posidonia oceanica transplant actions across the Mediterranean and, for the first time, the launch of a calculation model to assess the ecosystem services generated by seagrass meadows.

The proceedings were opened by Yuri Donno, Director of the Marine Protected Area, who chaired the meeting, alongside MEDSEA Foundation. During the day, Santa Teresa Gallura’s Mayor, Nadia Matta, also delivered her greetings. Donno emphasized the commitment of a relatively young MPA determined to protect a meadow under evident pressure, particularly from recreational boating.

“Protecting Posidonia means protecting our coastal identity and our economic future. We began by reducing pressures through the installation of eco-mooring buoys and passive restoration actions. With ARTEMIS, we are opening a concrete channel between public and private stakeholders to take collective responsibility for a unique and extraordinary natural heritage”, said Yuri Donno.

For MEDSEA Foundation, ARTEMIS represents a decisive step in linking scientific research, on-the-ground action, and financial innovation: “We are working to demonstrate that restoration is technically feasible, measurable, and scalable. Above all, we are laying the groundwork to integrate seagrass protection into economic and decision-making models, turning conservation into a structured and shared long-term responsibility”, stated Francesca Frau, ARTEMIS Project Manager at MEDSEA Foundation.

ARTEMIS operates across four Mediterranean pilot sites - Minorca, Crete, Sardinia, and Monfalcone - pursuing a dual objective: to demonstrate that seagrass restoration works and to develop financial mechanisms capable of supporting long-term conservation.

At the Capo Testa – Punta Falcone pilot site, last autumn the MEDSEA team monitored the transplant carried out the previous spring over 200 m² of seabed (approximately 2,000 cuttings), recording a survival rate exceeding 80%. This result confirms the durability of the intervention and the effectiveness of the restoration techniques applied.

During the meeting, two ongoing studies were presented, forming the baseline for the future activation of the Blue Credits market.

The first focuses on quantifying the ecosystem services provided by seagrass meadows — the benefits these ecosystems deliver to society. These include carbon sequestration and storage, contributing to climate change mitigation; marine biodiversity protection; seabed stabilization; and coastal erosion reduction.

The second study assesses the current health status of seagrass meadows in the pilot sites, a crucial element for measuring the long-term effectiveness of restoration actions.

Blue Credits are innovative financial instruments designed to assign economic value to these ecosystem services, facilitating investment by public and private stakeholders in marine conservation. The ambition is to create a credible and transparent financial framework that enables investment in nature as an investment in the future.

As Arnaud Terrisse, Project Lead at Plan Bleu and ARTEMIS Project Coordinator, stated: “The ambition of ARTEMIS is to prove that restoration works: we can repair damage and then implement the right management measures to ensure long-term recovery. Posidonia is a slow-growing species — we are talking about management measures that require 10 to 20 years. ARTEMIS makes a tangible contribution and, above all, builds collective awareness of how valuable these ecosystems truly are.”

Terrisse also stressed that conservation is a shared responsibility: “With ARTEMIS, we are bringing together on-the-ground conservation and the development of financial tools to facilitate investment in protection: investing in nature means investing in our future.”

The programme on 3 and 4 March included a Steering Committee session focused on project progress, expected Work Package outcomes, the methodology for developing Nature Credits, and discussions on the model transfer phase.

On the afternoon of 4 March, a peer-learning session was led by Thomas Kolster, internationally recognized expert in responsible marketing and sustainability. He worked with partners on communication strategies and the strategic positioning of Seagrass Credits within an increasingly competitive sustainability market. The goal: translating ecological value into market relevance without compromising scientific integrity.

With ARTEMIS, Sardinia further strengthens its role as a Mediterranean laboratory for environmental innovation — from active and passive seagrass protection to the experimentation of blue finance models that open new avenues for public-private collaboration in safeguarding marine ecosystems.

 

*ARTEMIS is funded by the Interreg Euro-MED Programme and addresses the degradation of Posidonia oceanica meadows in the Mediterranean through integrated conservation and restoration actions supported by innovative technical and financial tools.

Active in four pilot sites — Sardinia, Minorca, Crete, and Monfalcone — the project demonstrates that restoration is both feasible and measurable, while developing methodologies to assess seagrass ecosystem services, particularly carbon sequestration and biodiversity. ARTEMIS lays the foundations for a credible Blue Credits framework aimed at attracting public and private investment in marine ecosystem protection.