Content
This milestone reports on structured interviews with principal investigators leading marine restoration projects inside and outside the EU. Drawing on a deliberately broad interview panel, it synthesises the practical experience of restoration practitioners into a set of cross-cutting lessons rather than isolated case descriptions.
The synthesis surfaces the recurring drivers of success and failure: site selection balancing baselines, accessibility and politics; the distinction between active and passive degradation drivers; the case for low-cost, replicable methods and innovation; monitoring and the definition of success criteria; stakeholder equity, integration and the limits of consultation; funding, policy alignment and structural barriers; and the cross-cutting roles of climate change and ecological connectivity. These findings feed directly into LIFE-MAPPER’s work on assessing restoration efforts and developing best practices.