Acronym BLUEREEF
Category
Fisheries
Title Rebuilding of Marine Cavernous Boulder Reefs in Kattegat Programme LIFE
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source European Coordinator Jakob Harrekilde Jensen Coordinator email har@nst.dk
Coordinator institution
NA
Institutions involved
AU - Aarhus University (Denmark) ,
DIFRES - Danish Institute for Fisheries Research (Denmark) ,
NA - Danish Agency for Spatial and Environmental Planning (Denmark) ,
Start year 2006 End year 2013 Funding (€) € 4,808,398 Website http://www.bluereef.dk/ Summary Offshore cavernous boulder reefs in shallow waters have a high biodiversity and are a rare and biologically important subtype of reef habitats. The reefs are listed in the Habitats Directive. In Denmark, however, cavernous boulder reefs in shallow waters have been extensively exploited; they have been targeted for their high concentration of easy-to-excavate large boulders that are suitable for constructing sea defences and harbour jetties. It is estimated that at least 34 km2 of boulders from predominantly shallow cavernous reefs have been excavated from Danish waters (i.e close to 100% of the area of this habitat). The national monitoring programme indicates that only five hectares are left untouched. One Site of Community Importance has been selected at Kattegat bay to be a sanctuary for donor populations and to provide a corridor linking sites within the Natura 2000 network. The restored site will make a significant contribution to maintaining reef-dependent populations in Denmark.
The main objective of the project was to restore and maintain a favourable conservation status of the reef offshore habitat at Læsø Trindel and Tønneberg Banke in the Kattegat bay. It planned to achieve this aim by restoring the structure and function of the cavernous element of the shallow offshore boulder reefs and by stabilising the top of the existing boulder reef. As the project is a pilot project it would include a longer period of monitoring of the restored boulder reef. The project also planned to increase awareness among environmental managers, policymakers and the broader public on marine nature restoration, conservation and management issues.
Keywords
Restoration;
Habitat enhancement;
Marine Region
14
Skagerrak, Kattegat (27.IIIa)
1
Marine Region Map
