Marine restoration is increasingly shaped by binding international and regional commitments. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) Target 2 requires 30% of degraded ecosystems, including marine areas, to be under effective restoration by 2030. In Europe, the Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR), adopted in 2024, establishes similar obligations—20% of degraded ecosystems restored by 2030, increasing to full restoration by 2050.
These frameworks shift restoration from returning to past ecological states toward building resilience, enabling climate adaptation, and sustaining productivity. This aligns with GBF Target 10, which links restoration to sustainable use to the benefit of people. However, in marine systems, defining degradation remains contested. Surely well-managed fisheries can be developed that are not considered inherently degrading. Modified systems can support biodiversity, ecosystem function and productivity.
Progress depends on clear, context-specific methods to distinguish between ecosystem change and degradation. Scientific input is essential to determine when a fished seascape, even if utilised, can be considered restored. This requires standardised definitions, functional indicators, and integrated monitoring frameworks.
The session will examine how marine science can inform restoration-based governance in fished ecosystems. It invites contributions on:
- Defining ecological condition in the context of sustainable use and the changing social-ecological system.
- Operationalising limits and recovery benchmarks.
- Linking fishing pressure to biodiversity status through existing data systems (e.g. VMS, observer data, citizen science).
- Designing co-developed monitoring and governance frameworks
The session aims to clarify how science can underpin restoration goals while supporting socially legitimate and ecologically sound transitions in marine policy.
