Association Monégasque pour la Protection de la Nature (http://www.ampn.asso.mc/)
GEM (Groupe d’Etude du Mérou; http://www.gemlemerou.org)
Direction de l’Environnement, Monaco
Funding 30 000 euros
January 2014 - December 2016
The Monaco Principality has the most urbanized coast of the north-western Mediterranean. To assess the overall quality of the coastal ecosystems, The Direction of Environment launched several programs of monitoring (species, habitats), including artificial reef implementation.
ECOMERS has in charge the monitoring of (1) Posidonia oceanica meadows, (2) Pinna nobilis, (3) fish assemblages, and specifically (4) the brown Grouper (Epinephelus marginatus).
Artificial reefs have been immerged in the Larvotto marine reserve in the 80's. ECOMERS is currently assessing the efficiency of these old artificial reefs with the aim to improve in a short future the management of this marine reserve. New artificial reefs have been immerged near Fontvielle harbor in 2014. The monitoring will allow to assess the colonization process of these structures and to propose improvement of their design.