About the Conference 

As part of the LIFE Marha project, the French Biodiversity Office is leading a European platform on marine habitats. The aim of these conferences is to bring together scientists, Member State departments and environmental managers to share knowledge on the status, monitoring and management experiences of these habitats. Sedimentary habitats are an essential part of the seabed on the continental shelf of the North-West Atlantic, the English Channel and the North Sea. These habitats are exposed to considerable pressure, but receive little consideration in management measures and administrative regulations governing the use of the marine environment. However, the information available today underlines the importance of these habitats for the balance of marine ecosystems, the maintenance of fish stocks, carbon storage, etc.

This event is a great opportunity to share expertise, methods and our current knowledge on marine sedimentary ecosystems. Given, France’s recent commitment on energy transition objectives to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 with some of the largest energy transition investments in 2022, a joint venture for renewables and nuclear power investments. The current needs to undertake a more dedicated set of assessment of these sedimentary areas will be critical over the next decades. Our work at ERM could help to support some of these assessments with our current expertise and technical advice.