IMPACT project
Programme: INTERREG ITALIA-FRANCIA MARITTIMO
Priority Axis: Protection and enhancement of natural and cultural resources and risk management
Project title: Port Impact on Protected Marine Areas: Cooperative Cross-Border Actions
Acronym: IMPACT
Duration: 01/03/2017 - 29/02/2020
EU contribution: EUR 1.642.399
ISMAR budget: EUR 519.526
Web site: https://www.keep.eu/keep/project-ext/43000/IMPACT?ss=3b24348bf88b32351375e13b4ef62d7b&espon=
Summary:
IMPACT tackles the challenge of managing protected marine areas (PMA) near port zones. The objective is to define cross-border sustainable management plans for the effective protection of PMAs in harmony with the development requirements of ports, fundamental elements of Blue Growth. IMPACT will build a dedicated geographic information system (GIS), available on the web, whose information will be organised into datasets relating to: a) transport of marine currents between ports and PMAs, based on oceanographic measurements from coastal radars and drifters; b) ecological retention properties of the PMAs, obtained with ecological surveys and numeric models; c) distributions of contaminants, based on historic data and dedicated measurements. Maps will be produced that have traffic-light indicators to estimate over time the vulnerability of the various zones within the PMA to the pressures connected to their proximity to ports. The approach is based on a modelling and innovative monitoring plan that capitalises on and expands the existing network of cross-border infrastructure built in the MOMAR and SICOMAR projects. The WEB-GIS platform will be the shared interoperable tool for the management of the PMAs by governing bodies and institutions responsible for planning of maritime spaces in implementation of Directive 2014/89/EU. Furthermore, the project will provide indispensable support to the governing bodies responsible for implementing the Marine Strategy Framework Directory: the partners Regione Toscana, ISPRA (Italy) and Ifremer (France) have long been directly involved in this process. The partnership includes 4 regions, Tuscany, Liguria, Corsica and PACA; the methodology will be trialled in 4 PMAs in the immediate vicinity of the ports of Livorno, La Spezia, Bastia and Tolone. The cross-border approach is central for both the shared nature of the problems related to key and vulnerable zones, and to guarantee the effectiveness of the interventions, basing them on an infrastructural network and on shared practices.
Contact person in ISMAR: marcello.magaldi@sp.ismar.cnr.it
Partnership:
- National Research Council, Institute of Marine Science – CNR-ISMAR, (Italy)
- Centro Interuniversitario di Biologia Marina ed ecologia applicata G. Bacci, (Italy)
- Consorzio Laboratorio di Monitoraggio e Modellistica Ambientale, (Italy)
- Institut Français de Recherche pour l''Exploitation de la Mer, (France)
- Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), (Italy)
- Laboratoire d''Ecogéochimie des Environnements Benthiques - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, (France)
- Regione Toscana (Italy)
- Université de Toulon (France)
