Deadline: 1 January 2025

The EU project BioProtect – Advancing Area-based Management Tools to Accelerate the Protection and Restoration of Marine Biodiversity across the European Sea Basins is seeking 5 regions to receive grants of up to 100.000 € each and technical support to implement and enhance Area-Based Management tools developed by the project and tested in the demonstration sites. This project is funded by Horizon Europe under the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters” and CESAM is part of the consortium.

Eligibility:

Applicants from the countries where a project partner of BioProtect is located are ineligible for this call i.e., Greece, Portugal, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Norway, and are excluded from the list of potential beneficiaries.

Local/regional authorities, local and/or regional organisations from EU Member States, and associated countries to the Horizon Europe Programme are eligible to apply. Application must include a local/regional authority.

Any other type of third parties according to the Horizon Europe conditions like private for-profit organisations, higher education organisations or NGOs are not eligible.

Eligible regions are those facing similar challenges of the ones targeted by the project and are likely to benefit from the solutions that have been developed and tested in the demonstration sites. They are described as: “areas with ecosystems that can benefit from the demonstration activities (e.g., neighbouring regions and/or regions in a different sea basin) and/or less-developed regions, with the need to build capacity to implement the innovative solutions to restore marine ecosystems and biodiversity”.

Objective:

This call intends to augment the impact and increase the robustness and adaptability of the solutions generated by the project to protect and restore biodiversity.  It focuses on refining the tools created by incorporating feedback from various regions, ensuring their effectiveness and strengthening their overall implementation.

Benefits for the beneficiaries:

Successful candidates will have access to the BioProtect management tools area-based management decision support framework. The complete list can be found here. Moreover, they will have access to:

• Technical assistance, training, and documentation and additional resources to fill knowledge and skills gaps.
• Tools to help visualise impacts of human activities, identify conservation areas, and resolve conflicts in Marine Spatial Planning (MSP).
• Support in engaging stakeholders and expanding Marine Protected Area (MPA) networks.

Expectations from the beneficiaries:

• Bidirectional involvement: Engage actively with the BioProtect project to enhance motivation for planning and implementing activities.
• Community of Practice: Join the BioProtect Community of practice (CoP) to exchange experiences and best practices, ensuring sustainability and extension of the project’s objectives beyond its duration.
• Knowledge sharing: Bidirectional knowledge sharing.
• Continuously receive and share outcomes and knowledge from demonstrators and the Lighthouse, along with technical assistance to develop and test the ABM-DSF in their regions.

The selected beneficiaries commit to carry out the following activities:

• Participation in workshops and meetings in the scope of BioProtect training activities and capacity building sessions);
• Participation in developing MSP and/or MPA plans;
• Interact with local stakeholders, in an area-based management approach, to reduce pressures on marine biodiversity and to restore and protect ecosystems in the replication area(s);
• Providing feedback on the use of area-based management tools, e.g., the BioProtect Marine Planner.

Funding:

The maximum amount of financial support for each beneficiary is set to 100,000 € in the form of grants. If not all criteria are met (at candidature) during the evaluation, a lower amount may apply, according with the established criteria. No eligibility for a higher amount nor complementary funding (e.g., travel arrangements to participate in meetings) will be considered.

Duration:

The activities (consultations, technical assistance) will be carried out until the 30th of April 2027. This is the deadline for the funding expenditure.

Additional information can be found here.