Posidonia, nicknamed the “lung of the Mediterranean”, is one of the most important sources of oxygen in coastal areas. It plays an important role in stabilizing the seabed by breaking up swells and waves and helping the deposition of sedimentary particles. It is an indicator species of the quality of coastal waters because it is very sensitive to pollution, and it is also a fish nursery because it is home to a wide variety of animal species that use this habitat to live there. Finally, Posidonia represents a carbon sink that is three times more efficient on an equal surface than the Amazonian forest…all this in Cannes!

This PRIME project consists of setting up environmental awareness and education actions (in the continuity of the actions undertaken within the framework of the Mouré Rouge marine educational area), but also the deployment of a monitoring tool for seabed protection and Posidonia seagrass restoration actions.

The other interest of this project is to build on the basis of the actions proposed by Naturdive a low-carbon certification approach: this is the objective of the project supported by the climate solutions accelerator. This certification process carried out with the help of the company BlueLeaf Conservation aims to count the tons of CO2 not emitted into the atmosphere thanks to the preservation of Posidonia meadows, which would thus be valued in the form of certified credits eligible for financing in the framework of carbon offsetting. If successful, it could be one of the first “blue carbon” projects (alongside the “green carbon” projects focused on forest restoration) in the Mediterranean.

3 objectives :

• Contribute now to protect and restore the seabed of the Bay of Cannes
• Develop tools and methodologies that can be transposed to the entire Mediterranean basin
• Prepare for low-carbon certification to make it one of the first blue carbon projects in France

5 steps, a unique cause:

1. Awareness and education, through, among other things, the animation of an Educational Marine Area or even support for boaters in modifying their habitats to limit the negative impact of anchoring on seagrass beds
2. Development of monitoring tools for seabed protection
3. Monitoring the meadows condition – zero point, in order to determine the effectiveness of the conservation and restoration action and, subsequently, the quantity of CO2 emissions avoided
4. Restoration of Posidonia meadows allowing not only a return to the initial state of the ecosystem but also a strengthening of the meadow and a slowing down of its destruction.
5. Low-carbon certification of the project