Since 1992 and the adoption of the Habitat Directive, the European Union has been committed to the preservation of habitats of community interest and has deployed a network of Natura 2000 sites, first on land and then extended to the sea from 2008.
The Life project Marha is part of this approach and pursues the objective of restoring and maintaining the good conservation status of natural marine habitats by supporting all actors involved in the management of 162 Natura 2000 sites in the Mediterranean sea and lagoons.
To achieve this objective, Marha intervenes by :
- Evaluating the functioning and implementation of Natura 2000 at sea in order to propose adaptations when necessary,
- providing knowledge on habitats, their ecosystem services and the pressures they face,
- improving and completing the tools available to managers of Natura 2000 sites at sea,
- supporting these managers in the implementation of concrete actions for the preservation of habitats.
Integrating public policies relating to the sea
The Life project Marha must act for the protection of marine habitats in coherence with other public policies at sea.
At each stage, the project officers seek the greatest possible synergy with the sectoral maritime policies. It is thus a question of ensuring the coherence of the recommendations issued to the professionals or pleasure boaters of the sea and to reinforce the coordination of the services in order to mutualize reflections and means in terms of monitoring and management of the maritime space.