DISTRUBANCE MONITORING

Monitoring anthropogenic pressures in the French Mediterranean

The Mediterranean is a densely populated basin but also the most touristic region in the world. Human activities are very developed there and for the majority concentrated along the coast.

The European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (Directive 2008/56 / EC) aims to maintain the pressures due to human activities at a level that is compatible with achieving good ecological status in the marine environment.

Monitoring anthropogenic pressures (due to human activities) is therefore a priority today.

The company Andromède Océanologie, in collaboration with the Rhône-Méditerranée-Corse water agency, implemented in 2014 the IMPACT program, aimed at mapping the anthropic pressures exerted on the coastal water bodies of the French Mediterranean, as well as the associated impacts on the natural marine environment. This program has been the subject of a thesis and scientific publications (Holon 2015, Holon et al. 2015b, Holon et al. 2018).

Updated in 2018, the IMPACT project now offers access on the Medtrix platform the detailed mapping of 14 anthropogenic pressures and associated impacts: Aquaculture,  Coastal development, Anchoring small craft, Anchoring large units, Urbanization, Coastal erosion / worsening, Urban discharges, Industrial effluents, Professional fishing without trawls, Pollution by watercourses, Seaside tourism, Maritime traffic. An index of concomitant pressures and cumulative impact is also calculated. Other pressures are currently the subject of our research activities.

On this basis, Andromède Océanologie can help target and prioritize places and management actions (limitation, protection, restoration, etc.) and assess the possible benefits of the actions already implemented. Detailed analyzes (spatial distribution, quantification) of these existing (or future) pressures on a local scale and their impacts on the various marine habitats can be carried out on request.