Goals
Main goals
The FishME restoration project will combine the socio-economic, ecological and political dimensions of a Pan-European approach to propose effective management measures for improving the restoration and conservation of aquatic mountain ecosystems.
FishME will fill the current knowledge gap and inform decision makers, stakeholders, and policy makers on the best ways forward to conserve and manage mountain aquatic ecosystems and the important services they provide to billions of people globally. FishME is responding to several SDGs (2, 3, 6, 12, 13, 14, 15), especially of importance in a mountain context and is in accordance with the EU nature restoration plan within the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.
Expected goals
FishME will use a multi- and transdisciplinary approach, structured in four workpackages analysing the biological impact of fish (WP 1 – Impact), synergistic effect of fish and pollution (WP 2 – Pollution), the recovery potential of mountain lakes from fish stocking (WP 3 – Recovery), and synthesize the findings in a socio-ecological context in the FishME Management Toolbox (WP 4), linking up our work to evidence-based conservation and the work of GEO Mountains.
With the FishME Management Toolbox, we will enable science to predict future impacts on ecosystem health of mountain lakes and the resulting socio-economic risks for society. The transdisciplinary approaches adopted in FishME enables the delivery of co-produced and transferrable new knowledge underpinning Aichi Biodiversity Targets 14 (ecosystems and essential services safeguarded) and UN SDGs 14-15 (Life below water, Life on land), 13 (Climate action), 6 (Clean water), and 12 (Responsible consumption & production).
The four workpackages of FishME will be closely interlinked with feedback processes between them mediated by the early-career researchers. The WPs 1, 2, and 3 will feed all relevant datasets into the central FishME database.
In WP4, FishME will synthesize the work done in WP1 to WP3 in regard to policy needs and SDGs, including public authorities. Over the course of the project, all members will contribute to the link to conservation evidence and GEO Mountains (see also communication strategy), with a full integration of FishME results foreseen in the wrap-up phase of FishME (months 34-36).