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Pasaia, 9 September 2026. Marine ecosystems are simultaneously exposed to the cumulative effects of climate change, pollution, fisheries, maritime transport, coastal development and invasive alien species. Yet these pressures have traditionally been studied in isolation, making it difficult to understand their combined impacts on biodiversity.
After four years of work, the European project GES4SEAS has completed the development and validation of a new generation of scientific and operational tools capable of analysing these pressures in an integrated way. The project’s results, presented in August at the Estuarine and Coastal Sciences Association’s ECSA 61 conference, held in Brussels and co-organised by GES4SEAS, provide public authorities, regional bodies, the scientific community and marine management organisations with new capabilities to anticipate risks and support decision-making based on the best available scientific evidence.
Funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme and coordinated by the technology centre AZTI, GES4SEAS was launched to bring Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) into the day-to-day practice of marine governance. This approach considers biodiversity, human activities and the benefits that healthy marine ecosystems provide to society as interconnected components, rather than addressing each issue independently.
The outcomes of GES4SEAS will contribute to achieving Good Environmental Status (GES) under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), while also supporting the objectives of the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
One of the flagship outcomes of GES4SEAS is Tikta, a freely available software that combines spatial, environmental, ecological and socio-economic information to assess how different pressures interact within marine ecosystems.
Tikta enables users to integrate factors such as climate change, fisheries, pollution and invasive alien species, analyse data uncertainty and explore future scenarios. It also incorporates ecosystem service assessments, evaluating the benefits that society obtains from healthy seas, including food provision, climate regulation, coastal protection, tourism and recreational opportunities.
Results from the project demonstrate that assessments considering multiple pressures simultaneously identify significantly larger areas at risk than studies focusing on a single stressor. These findings highlight the importance of adopting integrated methodologies to protect marine biodiversity effectively.
“Ocean ecosystems are complex and are exposed to multiple pressures at the same time. GES4SEAS demonstrates that advanced scientific knowledge can be transformed into practical tools for marine management. The project leaves a legacy of solutions that will help us better understand how different pressures interact and support action before impacts become difficult to reverse,” explains Ángel Borja, Principal Researcher at AZTI and Coordinator of GES4SEAS.
The tools developed were tested at eleven Learning Sites located across Europe’s main regional seas, including areas in the Atlantic, the Baltic, the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, the Bay of Biscay and the Black Sea, as well as in French Polynesia.
Across these sites, around 25 pilot applications combined ecological modelling, spatial analysis, environmental observations and decision-support tools.
The case studies addressed challenges such as invasive alien species, harmful algal blooms, jellyfish outbreaks, changes in top predator populations and the cumulative effects of climate change and human activities.
The project also developed new capabilities for identifying ecological thresholds and tipping points. These occur when ecosystems exceed critical limits and undergo abrupt changes that can be extremely difficult to reverse. Detecting them in advance is particularly important in the context of accelerating climate change and increasing pressures on the marine environment.
One of the distinguishing features of GES4SEAS has been the direct involvement of the organisations and professionals who will ultimately use its results.
National authorities, regional bodies from Europe’s main seas, the European Environment Agency (EEA), the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and EuroGOOS, among others, contributed to defining needs and evaluating the methodologies and are currently involved in the tool validation process.
This co-creation process helped focus research efforts on specific management challenges and facilitated the uptake of project outcomes in environmental assessments, marine spatial planning processes and conservation measures.
In addition to Tikta, GES4SEAS developed SEAS4GES, a decision-support tool that helps users identify the most appropriate Ecosystem-Based Management approaches according to their objectives, available data and level of expertise. The project also delivered tools to assess data quality and improve risk analyses associated with invasive alien species, harmful algal blooms and other emerging pressures.
“Collaboration between science, technology, competent authorities and management organisations has been essential. Our objective was not only to develop new models, but to create solutions that address real-world needs and can support more effective decision-making. European institutions have already expressed an interest in applying these tools to the development of marine policies,” adds Ángel Borja.
GES4SEAS leaves behind a comprehensive open-access toolbox, together with methodologies, datasets, user manuals and training resources that will remain available to public authorities, researchers, environmental organisations and other stakeholders.
Over its four-year duration, the project produced more than 125 scientific publications, organised five international summer schools and contributed to the training of more than 400 professionals.
It also developed videos, infographics, educational materials and ocean literacy activities that brought marine science closer to thousands of people, including more than 1,500 students from different European countries through the Blue Schools initiative.
The project’s outcomes provide new capabilities for integrating biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services into marine management. In doing so, GES4SEAS contributes to a more preventive, coordinated and evidence-based approach to ocean governance, while supporting the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 14 on the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and marine resources.
GES4SEAS is a Horizon Europe project funded by the European Union and coordinated by AZTI. Over four years, it brought together 21 organisations from 15 countries, including research centres, universities, public bodies responsible for environmental assessment and management, fisheries and marine research institutes, and companies specialising in knowledge transfer and science communication.
The geographical, scientific and institutional diversity of the consortium enabled the integration of ecological knowledge, modelling, ocean observation, resource management, technological development and stakeholder engagement. This complementarity was essential for designing tools applicable across diverse environmental and governance contexts and ensuring that project outcomes respond to real management needs.
Tikta: Software integrating data management, spatial analysis and visualisation capabilities to assess risks associated with multiple pressures and evaluate the environmental status of marine ecosystems.
Access the software and user manual
SEAS4GES: Decision-support tool that helps users identify the most appropriate Ecosystem-Based Management approaches according to their management objectives, available data and level of expertise.
Access the tool | Factsheet
Pressure2Eco: Web-based application that explores relationships between human activities, the pressures they generate and ecosystem components, while helping to identify knowledge and data gaps.
Access the tool
SCAIRM: Assessment framework that identifies major human-induced threats, analyses cumulative risks and compares alternative marine planning and management scenarios.
Tool and resources
GES4HABs: Decision tree designed to assess harmful algal blooms and support the selection of appropriate monitoring, management and mitigation responses.
Access the tool
MAMBO: Matrix-based tool that helps determine the extent to which a harmful algal bloom can be managed through intervention or is primarily driven by natural conditions.
Access the tool
CIMPAL family
A suite of tools that quantifies and spatially represents the cumulative impacts of invasive alien species, jellyfish outbreaks and harmful algal blooms on ecosystems and ecosystem services.
Publication | CIMPAL Calculator | MarIAS database | Tutorial
EasySat Indicators: Application that facilitates the calculation of marine environmental indicators from satellite data and enables results to be downloaded in formats compatible with mapping and analytical tools.
Access the tool
Explore the complete GES4SEAS Toolbox
More information: www.ges4seas.eu
Funding. GES4SEAS — Achieving Good Environmental Status for maintaining ecosystem SErvices, by ASsessing integrated impacts of cumulative pressures — is funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme, Grant Agreement No 101059877. Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.