Portugal is a coastal nation with a large marine area under its jurisdiction. Keeping a good environmental standard of the marine and coastal waters is therefore of vital importance for Portugal and its economy.
Through the EEA Grants, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway have made available €19.2 million to obtain and secure good environmental status in Portugal’s marine and coastal waters. The programme was signed in Sines, Portugal on November 16 – the Portuguese National Day of the Sea.
Mapping and monitoring
The programme will improve and increase capacity in Portugal to ensure sound environmental management and monitoring of the marine and coastal areas. This includes among others:
- Development of a national Marine Environment Management System that covers all four Portuguese sub-regions
- Getting and supplying a research vessel with marine surveying equipment for fisheries research and oceanographic, hydrographical and biological research and increasing mobile equipment capacity, such as buoys. This will increase monitoring capacity
- Targeted mapping and monitoring of three critical areas in line with the EU Water Strategy Framework Directive
- Integration of information services and surveillance systems on human activity at sea, the marine environment and the atmosphere, including linking the data to geographical information
- 15 local awareness raising events for school children building on the existing ‘Ocean Literacy Website’
Cooperation with Norwegian partners
Norwegian entities such as the Norwegian Mapping Authority are involved as project partners in pre-defined projects. The Norwegian Mapping Authority is very experienced in international cooperation projects and will contribute in the preparation of an integrated geographical information database on marine waters and seabed.
First calls for proposals in 2014
In addition to the two pre-defined projects, there will be six open calls for proposals on improvement of marine monitoring, development of modelling services and monitoring equipment, data integration and education and training for marine experts. The awareness raising awareness in schools and training will be funded through a small grant scheme. The first calls for proposals are expected to open in the first quarter of 2014.
The programme is implemented by the Directorate-General of Maritime Policy (DGMP) under the Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture and Sea.
Calls will be available on the website of the programme operator. You can also find open calls for proposals on the EEA Grants website.
Largest programme in Portugal
Through the EEA Grants 2009-2014, Portugal is allocated a total amount of €57.95 million. Out of this, one third will go to the ‘Integrated Coastal and Marine Management’ programme making it the biggest EEA Grants programme in Portugal. Other areas of support include improving public health and reducing inequalities in access to health care, strengthening civil society and reducing vulnerability to climate change. Read more about all the programmes in Portugal on www.eeagrants.org/Portugal
In addition to Portugal, four other beneficiary countries of the EEA and Norway Grants also have programmes focusing on integrated marine and inland water management. Read more here.