Ocean: the National Research Agency supports a Sorbonne University project

Today, between 3.3 and 3.6 billion people depend on marine coastal ecosystems that are already highly vulnerable to global warming. Increasing pressure from human activities and climate change threaten the sustainability and resilience of these ecological and socio-economic systems. 

Long-term observation of coastal environments, biodiversity and associated socio-economic uses is essential to understand the functioning and dynamics of such socio-ecosystems, to manage risks and to evaluate the relevance and effectiveness of public policies.

"The fundamental objective of FUTURE-OBS is to propose systemic and targeted strategies for multi-scale and multidisciplinary observations of socio-ecosystems in areas identified as having high stakes, such as maritime façades exposed to numerous pressures, marine protected areas and aquaculture zones," explains Éric Thiébaut, professor of marine biology at the Sorbonne University, in his application file.

The development of these enhanced observatories will lead to the development of new indicators to monitor and fully understand the functioning and trajectories of coastal socio-ecosystems. It will also facilitate the implementation of eco-responsible sustainable development initiatives designed to address key environmental issues.

It will take six years to implement and complete this large-scale project.