Mercator Ocean International is organising a kick-off event of the NECCTON project (“New Copernicus capability for trophic ocean networks”) aiming to gather all partners and stakeholders of the project and set its start. This hybrid event will last from 24-26 January 2023 and take place in Toulouse, France.
The vision of NECCTON is to advance ocean biodiversity conservation, to support food-security and to European policies through the next generation of marine ecosystem prediction systems. The project is funded within HORIZON-CL4-2022-SPACE-01 program and it will last 4 years. The project objectives will be achieved by a team of twenty-three world-class organizations with track records for all the key project components.
Rationale
The ocean’s biodiversity supports the livelihood of almost half the world’s population. But climate change and human influence endanger the ocean’s biodiversity, which is why it must be continuously monitored. The Copernicus Marine Service and its high-quality information to monitor and manage ocean resources is vital not only to support international directives, but also to monitor and protect the ocean, which makes life on Earth possible. Copernicus Marine Data provide the most relevant variables needed to monitor marine ecosystems and their health in different formats (i.e. in situ, satellite, models) as key inputs to diverse applications developed for directives on ocean health and its biodiversity. However, the current models are unable to deliver information on biodiversity and marine food-webs.
The NECCTON project will advance the capability of the Copernicus Marine Service by combining new data with innovative ecosystem models. The aim is to provide Copernicus with tools and products that are even more relevant for marine biodiversity conservation and marine food resource management, from the European regional seas to the global ocean.
Upon project completion, NECCTON will provide Copernicus Marine Service with the scientific and technical capabilities to sustain twenty-five new products in its operational portfolio, ultimately enabling users to make informed decisions on the use of marine services, enhancing sustainability and conservation.