MARBEFES

MARBEFES addresses a critical challenge for the European Union and its Member States: understanding how marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning underpin the delivery of ecosystem services, goods and benefits. These natural and social capital assets must be valued and sustainably managed to support society now and in the future.

The project aims to uncover the links between biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the services they provide. To achieve this, MARBEFES is developing a validated set of ecological and socioeconomic valuation tools, presented in a distributed toolbox (Technology Readiness Level 6). These tools will support policy and governance improvements across Europe’s marine regions.

MARBEFES brings together 23 expert partners and applies its approach across 12 Broad Belt Transect case studies. These span the full range of European marine biodiversity—from Arctic to semi-tropical waters, shallow coasts to deep seas, and across iconic habitats and species. Each site reflects a unique socio-economic context.

Through stakeholder co-creation, the project ensures policy relevance and practical application. MARBEFES provides tools to assess and value natural capital, guiding decisions from financial planning to marine management. It delivers both monetary and non-monetary insights, advancing our understanding of how biodiversity supports ecological and economic resilience.