Progress and challenges of multi-habitat marine restoration in the eastern Aegean Sea, Türkiye

Ecological restoration is an increasing global priority and is critical to reverse ecosystem decline caused by anthropogenic impacts. We outline the approach to marine restoration in Gökova Bay, Türkiye and present observations from lesser to more highly assisted restoration interventions and trials, including enforcing multi-habitat No Fishing Zones (including Posidonia oceanica, macroalgae and rocky reef) within a wider Marine Protected Area network. We consolidate evidence from ecological monitoring, small-scale fisheries catch data, marine patrol threat monitoring and a macroalgae trial intervention. It remains difficult to decipher interactions in this system where anthropogenic threats persist and change is not linear but we observe that areas of restoration (No Fishing Zones) demonstrated a lower proportion of Non Indigenous Species compared to fished areas. This work provides a new case study of the progression of multi-habitat interventions and the potential for marine ecosystem recovery in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, informing restoration at scale.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  npj Ocean Sustainability

• Publication date

  2025-04-13

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1038/s44183-025-00114-9
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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