Leading the Way: marine nature restoration advancements, challenges and needs in the North Sea region

The Nature Restoration Law, which took effect on August 18, 2024, sets bold and ambitious goals for restoring ecosystems across the EU. In the North Sea region, numerous restoration efforts are already underway, and many more are in the pipeline. These initiatives will be showcased in the workshop, providing insights into the efforts being made toward these ambitious goals.

The workshop will support discussions on shaping further the marine nature restoration in the region, engaging participants on recommendations, next steps, and priority actions for moving forward.

Session 1 : Introduction 16:00 - 16:05

Welcome - Introduction to the workshop (SUBMARINER)

Session 2 : Setting the scene: 16:05 - 16:20

Cooperation in the North Sea region on biodiversity and nature restoration: the work of OSPAR (Jos Schilder, Rijkswaterstaat, Netherlands, OSPAR expert) & Restoring marine benthic reefs in the region – good practices, challenges and recommendations: the work of NORA and NERA (Hein Sas, NORA)

Session 3 : Good restoration practices in the North Sea (16:20-16:35)

Belgium: Oyster reef restoration in the Belgian part of the North Sea (Merel Oeyen, FPS Public Health, Marine Environment Department) & De Rijke Noordzee - The Rich North Sea (Christiaan van Sluis, The North Sea Foundation - The Rich North Sea Programme)

Session 4 : Science-based policy advice on Nature Restoration (16:35-16:50)

Science-based policy advice on Nature Restoration: 1) Future MARES results, (Luca van Duren, Deltares) 2) The Belreefs project - Oyster niche mapping: a data-driven multicriteria site selection process, (Vera Van Lancker, Institute of Natural Sciences)

Session 5 : Interactive session (16:50-17:45)