Blue natural capital (BNC) markets have the potential to address global environmental crises such as biodiversity and climate emergencies by contributing to the conservation and restoration of marine ecosystems while providing economic benefits to the owners of these ecosystems and the buyers of their services. Philanthropic and official aid fall short of the funding needed to protect and restore BNC. The resulting finance gap for nature, now approaching USD $1 trillion annually, cannot be closed without mobilizing private capital at scale. However, developing nature markets face significant challenges, including the absence of the visible hand (i.e., policy and regulation) and global coordination, along with issues related to market design, valuation, credibility, governance, and social equity. This paper recognizes and explores the complexities of establishing equitable and nature-positive BNC markets that integrate environmental, social, cultural, and economic dimensions to support market development that is both sustainable and inclusive.

This article presents a methodological framework for analysing the social dimensions of offshore wind energy based on newspaper content analysis to identify stakeholders, examine their positions, and anticipate potential areas of conflict and consensus in the early stages of planning. The case study focuses on the Gulf of Roses and Cap de Creus in the north-western Mediterranean (Spain). It combines a systematic review of 319 press articles (1777 stakeholder mentions) with validation through a participatory workshop involving 68 local actors. Together, these complementary analyses provide a mixed-method approach linking media representations with local perceptions, allowing a more grounded understanding of stakeholder visibility, perceived power relations, and potential areas of agreement or tension. This framework also enables the construction of an interest-power matrix and the exploration of discursive dynamics across time and media scales. The results show that newspapers not only report but also shape debate, giving early visibility to particular actors. Regional outlets played a central role in structuring the public conversation, whereas the fisheries sector, prominent in other European contexts, was largely absent from coverage. A Procrustes comparison between press-based positions and workshop outcomes showed strong correspondence (r = 0.845, p = 0.003), indicating that media analysis can serve as a reliable proxy for stakeholder mapping in early planning phases. The findings demonstrate that press analysis provides a methodologically grounded approach to support more inclusive and context-sensitive marine spatial planning and offshore wind governance, while informing early participatory processes.

The Ecosystem Service framework is essential for understanding the role of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in delivering conservation benefits and societal goods such as fisheries. A perception analysis was conducted to capture the views of 33 experts on MPA-associated ecosystem services. Moreover, using The MPA Guide, we applied a scenario-based approach to assess the potential impact of different degrees of protection (i.e., fully, highly, lightly, and minimally protected levels) on fisheries-related ecosystem services. An expert-based evaluation explored the influence of these protection levels on fisheries-related ecosystem services across two prospective timeframes, set at 3- and 7-years post-implementation. Findings indicate a broad consensus on the perceived importance of cultural services attributed to MPAs. Provisioning MPA-associated ecosystem services are moderate, and their relevance varies by experiential and disciplinary backgrounds of experts. Fully and highly protected levels were perceived as the most effective in enhancing fisheries-related ecosystem services, particularly through increased fish abundance, individual size, and biomass. While provisioning fisheries-related ecosystem services were clearly perceived as increasing over time, especially under higher protection levels, the trends for regulation/maintenance and cultural fisheries-related ecosystem services were more subtle. This study highlights the need for adaptive protection strategies that account for temporal scales, reinforcing the role of long-term monitoring frameworks that capture both socioeconomic and social-ecological outcomes. Moreover, by introducing a qualitative cost-effective expert judgment, this methodology can be implemented in data-poor contexts such as the Mediterranean region. The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and MPA planners striving to implement the EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy in the Mediterranean Sea in terms of design, zoning, and governance of strictly protected MPAs that are both ecologically effective and socially acceptable.

Not even the most remote and pristine oceanic regions, such as the Southern Ocean, are immune to the impacts of marine litter. This study presents novel data on surface waters meso- and micro-litter along the Western Antarctic Peninsula and Livingston Island (South Shetland Islands) across two summer campaigns (2022-2023), providing one of the broadest assessments of marine debris in Antarctica (62° S to 67° S). Litter was detected at all sampling sites, with abundances ranging from 0.019 ± 0.033 to 0.193 ± 0.104 items m-3 along the Western Antarctic Peninsula (average: 0.086 ± 0.082 items m-3). The South Shetland Islands exhibited significantly higher litter abundances compared to higher-latitude sites. Our results show that litter distribution correlates with human activity intensity, with latitude and the personnel density of nearby research stations as key influencing factors. The South Shetland Islands emerged as an Antarctic marine litter hotspot, likely driven by the concentration of Antarctic facilities and other anthropogenic activities. Litter was primarily composed of synthetic fibres, especially polyester and nylon, pointing to local human sources. Additionally, a decrease in marine litter was observed at Livingston Island between campaigns, with abundance declining from 0.235 ± 0.152 items m-3 to 0.116 ± 0.033 items m-3. This highlights the need for ongoing monitoring to capture interannual variability, avoid seasonal biases, and better understand marine litter dynamics in the Southern Ocean to guide conservation efforts. These findings underscore human impact in Antarctica and the urgent need for better waste management and stricter environmental regulation enforcement.

Despite global climate-driven change in marine ecosystems and associated economic sectors, climate-smart Marine Spatial Planning (CSMSP) implementation remains limited. This joint perspective from across the climate research and Marine Spatial Planning policy interface discusses reasons for CSMSP's slow pace (blockers) and shares operational examples about how CSMSP is working around the world (enablers). Learning from national CSMSP contexts can help deliver needed and faster international collaboration on climate action.

As offshore wind energy expands in Europe, maritime planners increasingly need to consider the potential effects of these activities on the different types of marine protected areas (MPAs), including Natura 2000 sites. The aim of this article is to critically review the initial development of offshore wind energy inside and/or in the vicinity of Mediterranean Natura 2000 sites and other types of MPAs. The western Mediterranean Sea is taken as an example as this is where most of the offshore wind developments have been proposed. In order to open up discussion of offshore wind energy policy and guide ecological research that supports holistic decisions regarding offshore wind farm (OWF) installation in the region, we (i) outline the context of Natura 2000 and other MPA policy in the Mediterranean for OWF development, (ii) summarize the potential impacts of OWF on EU-protected habitats and species, (iii) assess the interactions of OWFs, the Natura 2000 sites, and other MPAs, and (iv) propose recommendations to approach OWF development in the Mediterranean in order to safeguard the Natura 2000 sites and other MPAs. After documenting the potential overlaps between OWFs and MPAs in the western Mediterranean, we recommend OWFs be placed outside Natura 2000 and other MPA sites, including their buffer zones. We also advocate for rigorous and independent Appropriate Assessments to be carried out for OWF proposals that could affect protected areas.

A large sample of 1664 companies—69 directly working in the ocean economy—distributed across 19 industrial sectors was investigated to explore awareness and activation regarding direct and indirect pressures on the ocean, their responses to these pressures, and the disclosure tools used. We examined their accountability and disclosure practices on sustainable development goals (SDGs) using the drivers, pressures, state, welfare, and response accounting framework. Based on their 2019 sustainability reports, just 7% of the companies assessed disclosed on SDG14. However, 51% of these companies can be considered as aware, albeit to varying degrees, of the pressures their industries place on the oceans, 44% deploy mitigating activities, and 26% are aware and actively lead business responses to ocean challenges. Although we have seen just early responses in addressing ocean challenges, companies’ awareness and activation must converge to achieve ocean sustainability and move businesses into a truly blue economy.

The need for alternative energy systems like offshore wind power to move towards the Green Deal objectives is undeniable. However, it is also increasingly clear that biodiversity loss and climate change are interconnected issues that must be tackled in unison. In this paper we highlight that offshore wind farms (OWF) in the Mediterranean Sea (MS) pose serious environmental risks to the seabed and the biodiversity of many areas due to the particular ecological and socioeconomic characteristics and vulnerability of this semi-enclosed sea. The MS hosts a high diversity of species and habitats, many of which are threatened. Furthermore, valuable species, habitats, and seascapes for citizens' health and well-being coexist with compounding effects of other economic activities (cruises, maritime transport, tourism activities, fisheries and aquaculture) in a busy space on a narrower continental shelf than in other European seas. We argue that simply importing the OWF models from the northern European seas, which are mostly based on large scale projects, to other seas like the Mediterranean is not straightforward. The risks of implementing these wind farms in the MS have not yet been well evaluated and, considering the Precautionary Principle incorporated into the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive, they should not be ignored. We propose that OWF development in the MS should be excluded from high biodiversity areas containing sensitive and threatened species and habitats, particularly those situated inside or in the vicinity of Marine Protected Areas or areas with valuable seascapes. In the absence of a clearer and comprehensive EU planning of wind farms in the MS, the trade-off between the benefits (climate goals) and risks (environmental and socioeconomic impacts) of OWF could be unbalanced in favor of the risks.

The continental shelf and submarine canyon off Cap de Creus (NW Mediterranean) were declared a Site of Community Importance (SCI) within the Natura 2000 Network in 2014. Implementing an effective management plan to preserve its biological diversity and monitor its evolution through time requires a detailed characterization of its benthic ecosystem. Based on 60 underwater video transects performed between 2007 and 2013 (before the declaration of the SCI), we thoroughly describe the composition and structure of the main megabenthic communities dwelling from the shelf down to 400 m depth inside the submarine canyon. We then mapped the spatial distribution of the benthic communities using the Random Forest algorithm, which incorporated geomorphological and oceanographic layers as predictors, as well as the intensity of the bottom-trawling fishing fleet. Although the study area has historically been exposed to commercial fishing practices, it still holds a rich benthic ecosystem with over 165 different invertebrate (morpho)species of the megafauna identified in the video footage, which form up to 9 distinct megabenthic communities. The continental shelf is home to coral gardens of the sea fan Eunicella cavolini, sea pen and soft coral assemblages, dense beds of the crinoid Leptometra phalangium, diverse sponge grounds and massive aggregations of the brittle star Ophiothrix fragilis. The submarine canyon off Cap de Creus is characterized by a cold-water coral community dominated by the scleractinian coral Madrepora oculata, found in association with several invertebrate species including oysters, brachiopods and a variety of sponge species, as well as by a community dominated by cerianthids and sea urchins, mostly in sedimentary areas. The benthic communities identified in the area were then compared with habitats/biocenoses described in reference habitat classification systems that consider circalittoral and bathyal environments of the Mediterranean. The complex environmental setting characteristic of the marine area off Cap de Creus likely produces the optimal conditions for communities dominated by suspension- and filter-feeding species to develop. The uniqueness of this ecosystem and the anthropogenic pressures that it faces should prompt the development of effective management actions to ensure the long-term conservation of the benthic fauna representative of this marine area.

At the end of 2006, many stretches of S'Abanell Beach (Catalonia, Spain) were gone and the functional condition of the beach was in a critical state. A cascade of cumulative effects resulting from multiple activities that were carried out without any comprehensive plan of action resulted in a loss of ecosystem functionality. Redressing this situation was an urgent need. A peliminary beach assessment work served as a guide for the process of restoration. Following the European Eurosion project recommendations, a process divided into three phases was carried out; a) to assess the forcing drivers – through time and space – responsible by the coastal erosion in S'Abanell Beach as well as their interactions, b) to calculate the sediment balance in the region and, c) to make responses to coastal erosion pro-active and planned. The final idea – still in progress – was to develop an Integrated Plan for the protection of the delta region using an Integrated Coastal Zone Management framework based in an ecosystem-based management approach. Today, the beach shows some new signs of functionality and all related stakeholders work on mantaining this pace of recovery or strengthening it with the aim of achieving the highest possible degree of renaturalization.

This paper introduces a geoethical dilemma in the coastal zone of the Tordera Delta as a case study with the objective of showing the contribution of geoethics to the governance of coastal social-ecological systems. The Tordera Delta, located in Costa Brava, Catalonia, constitutes a social-ecological system that suffers from intense anthropization mainly due to tourist pressures causing a cascade of different environmental problems impacting the Delta functions. The massive sun and beach tourism brought human well-being and economic development to the region, but has caused an intense urbanization of the coastline that altered the coastal dynamics, eroded its beaches, and degraded many ecosystem services, a process that is being worsened today by the climate change events such as the rising sea level or the magnitude of the storms (“llevantades”), typical of the Western Mediterranean coast. Posing the problem of governance in terms of a geoethical dilemma enables discerning among the values connected to the intrinsic meaning of coastal landscapes and the instrumental values that see beaches as goods (commodities) for tourism uses. Finally, the paper reflects on options to overcome this dichotomy of values by considering meaning values as elements that forge cultural identities, contributing to highlighting this societal challenge in the Tordera Delta area, as a case study that can be useful for similar ecosystems.

Two new deep-sea species of the genus Laonice belonging to the subgenera Sarsiana and Appelloefia respectively, are described from the Mediterranean Sea. Complete specimens of the subgenus Appelloefia were studied for the first time, and the new information collected raised questions on the boundaries between the subgenera Appelloefia and Norgensia. The presence of characters in L. barcinensis sp. nov. previously considered to be exclusive to each these two subgenera suggests that they should be regarded as synonymous. The name Appelloefia being given precedence here, according to the Principle of the First Reviser. A correction is made regarding the depth range of Laonice rasmusseni Sikorski & Pavlova, 2018.

Defining impact significance is the main technical task that influences decision-making during the Environmental Licensing Procedure (ELP). The ELP begins with screening to determine potentially significant impacts of the proposed project. Scoping then follows to address any interventions deemed worthy of attention in the production of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). This will include consideration of relevant landforms and geomorphological processes. However, preliminary assessments of environmental impacts often lack the scientific robustness to procure substantive and transactive effectiveness. This review presents an examination of the established practices of screening and scoping while highlighting the foremost challenges to improve the technical grounds of the ELP. The analysis of screening and scoping practices stresses the need for novel methods that ensure the sequential reasoning between their criteria while improving the preliminary evaluation of impact significance. Reducing the inherent subjectivity of discretionary judgment requires scientific methodologies that acknowledge the interaction between the natural system and human interventions, which has been addressed by geomorphological research. The knowledge consolidated in this review opens the gate to explore the compatibility between the United Nations strategy of Ecosystem Approach (EA) with the ELP through a novel geomorphological interpretation of the EIA. Therefore, this diagnosis demonstrate that screening and scoping practices would benefit from reliable methods that balance the precautionary principle with the efficient character required in the ELP.

espanolEl temporal Gloria afecto a la costa catalana entre los dias 19 y 23 de enero de 2020. En este trabajo se caracterizan el clima de oleaje y las condiciones morfodinamicas previas a la tempestad, para luego presentar una recopilacion de los impactos mas notables. Estos consistieron en la erosion de las playas, la afectacion a las estructuras de defensa portuarias, destrozos en paseos maritimos y la inundacion de areas urbanas situadas en primera linea entre otros. Finalmente se presentan las lecciones aprendidas del temporal consistentes en la necesidad de avanzar en un cambio del modelo de gestion de la costa. Se propone incorporar las recomendaciones de los organismos internacionales, basadas en los principios de la gestion ecosistemica, que esta emergiendo como el paradigma dominante en la gestion de los recursos naturales y el medio ambiente, la cual debe permitir transitar de una costa muy artificializada como la actual, a un litoral mas natural, menos vulnerable y mas resiliente. catalaEl temporal Gloria va afectar la costa catalana entre els dies 19 i 23 de gener de 2020. En aquest treball es caracteritzen el clima d’onatge i les condicions morfodinamiques previes a la llevantada, per a despres presentar un recull dels impactes mes notables. Aquests van consistir en l’erosio de les platges, l’afectacio a les estructures de defensa portuaries, destrosses al passeigs maritims i la inundacio d’arees urbanes situades a primera linia entre d’altres. Finalment es presenten les llicons apreses del temporal consistents en la necessitat d’avancar en un canvi del model de gestio de la costa. Es proposa incorporar les recomanacions dels organismes internacionals, basades en els principis de la gestio ecosistemica, la qual esta emergint com el paradigma dominant en la gestio dels recursos naturals i el medi ambient, i que permet transitar d’una costa molt artificialitzada com l’actual, a un litoral mes natural, menys vulnerable i mes resilient. EnglishThe storm Gloria affected the Catalan coast between January 19th and 23rd, 2020. This work characterizes the wave climate and the morphodynamic conditions prior to the storm, and then presents a compilation of the most notable impacts. These consisted of beach erosion, damage to port defense structures, damage to seafront promenades, and the flooding of urban areas located on the front line, among others. Finally, the lessons learned from the storm are presented, consisting of the need to move forward with a change in the coastal management model. It is proposed to incorporate the recommendations of international organizations, based on the principles of ecosystem management, which is emerging as the dominant paradigm in the management of natural resources and the environment, which should allow transit from a highly artificial coast to a more natural, less vulnerable and more resilient coastline.

Coastal catchment zones have undergone enormous changes during recent decades that have compromised their resilience. As a consequence of largely fragmented coastal management frameworks in the delta region of the Tordera River, the beach of S’Abanell, located on the northern arm of the delta, was in a critically degraded condition by the end of 2006. To remedy this situation, the beach was artificially nourished with sand during the period 2007–2009. After nourishment, we observed a general trend of recovery of the width of the beach, in its northern and central parts, and the reappearance of a pattern of seasonal oscillation. This tendency was not observed in its southern part, near the river mouth, where the situation is still critical today. Tracing the decadal evolution of the problem, we strengthen the knowledge base by compiling a history of past human decisions responsible for the present situation. We promoted stakeholder engagement and participation aimed at reducing human pressures affecting the evolution of the beach and the loss of ecosystem services. The overall idea was to take the initial steps needed to shift the management of this coastal region towards ecosystem-based management principles. This research demonstrates that, under certain conditions, artificial nourishment can contribute to restoring beach health on a decadal scale.

The Mediterranean community represented in this paper is the result of more than 30 years of EU and nationally funded coordination, which has led to key contributions in science concepts and operational initiatives. Together with the establishment of operational services, the community has coordinated with universities, research centers, research infrastructures and private companies to implement advanced multi-platform and integrated observing and forecasting systems that facilitate the advancement of operational services, scientific achievements and mission-oriented innovation. Thus, the community can respond to societal challenges and stakeholders needs, developing a variety of fit-for-purpose services such as the Copernicus Marine Service. The combination of state-of-the-art observations and forecasting provides new opportunities for downstream services in response to the needs of the heavily populated Mediterranean coastal areas and to climate change. The challenge over the next decade is to sustain ocean observations within the research community, to monitor the variability at small scales, e.g., the mesoscale/submesoscale, to resolve the sub-basin/seasonal and inter-annual variability in the circulation, and thus establish the decadal variability, understand and correct the model-associated biases and to enhance model-data integration and ensemble forecasting for uncertainty estimation. Better knowledge and understanding of the level of Mediterranean variability will enable a subsequent evaluation of the impacts and mitigation of the effect of human activities and climate change on the biodiversity and the ecosystem, which will support environmental assessments and decisions. Further challenges include extending the science-based added-value products into societal relevant downstream services and engaging with communities to build initiatives that will contribute to the 2030 Agenda and more specifically to SDG14 and the UN's Decade of Ocean Science for sustainable development, by this contributing to bridge the science-policy gap. The Mediterranean observing and forecasting capacity was built on the basis of community best practices in monitoring and modeling, and can serve as a basis for the development of an integrated global ocean observing system.

Plastic pollution is widespread in all the oceans and seas, representing a significant threat to most of their ecosystems even in marine protected areas (MPAs). This study determines the floating plastic distribution in four different periods between 2014 and 2015 in the recently approved Menorca Channel MPA (Balearic Islands). Plastic debris were persistent during all sampling periods on the surface of the Channel, composed mainly by the microplastic sizes. Average particle abundances ranged from 138,293 items⋅km-2 in autumn to 347,793 items⋅km-2 during the spring, while weight densities varied from 458.15 g(DW)⋅km-2 in winter to 2016.67 g(DW)⋅km-2 in summer. Rigid plastics were the most frequent particles in all the periods analysed (from 89.40%-winter to 94.54%-spring). The high-resolution and particle distribution models corroborated that the oceanographic variability shapes different patterns of presence of plastics, and in particular the existence of areas with almost no plastics.