New project to map pressures in Nordic seas
Marine life thrives among cold-water corals. The fish in the picture is a tusk (Brosme brosme). Photo: MAREANO / IMR
Photo: MAREANO / Institute of Marine ResearchPublished: 27.08.2026 Updated: 31.08.2026
Researchers from Norway, Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands will investigate this question.
“The countries around the North Atlantic do possess extensive knowledge of their diverse ecosystems. Now we are joining forces and bringing this knowledge together so it can be used for ecosystem-based marine spatial planning in these sea areas,” says project leader Lene Buhl-Mortensen.
The project, NOA-Protect, is funded through the Nordic Ocean Programme (2025–2027) with a budget of NOK 5.5 million.
During the project period, the participating researchers will compile existing data and process it to enable assessment of cumulative pressures affecting habitats in the region. The methodology will also incorporate the impacts of climate change.
“Throughout this marine region, we find many examples of so-called vulnerable marine ecosystems, or VMEs” she explains.
Examples of such nature types include coral- and sponge gardens, and several other species-rich environments that are highly sensitive to disturbance.
“We know that these biogenic habitat types are functionally important biodiversity hotspots, and at the same time they are vulnerable to both physical disturbance and climate change,” says Buhl-Mortensen.
Source: NovasArc/Nordpub
Greenland joins as project partner
NOA-Protect builds on two previous Nordic projects.
“Both this and the earlier projects have used or will be using data from the Norwegian mapping program Mareano, which provides Norway with unique datasets from its own seabed,” says Buhl-Mortensen.
What is new in this project is that Greenland is also joining the consortium.
Greenland manages one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the Arctic. This area has been mapped less extensively than marine areas farther east in the North Atlantic. Through NOA-Protect, knowledge about deep-sea habitats and vulnerable marine ecosystems in Greenlandic waters will become part of a shared Nordic knowledge base.
“This Nordic consortium is a great opportunity to highlight that good knowledge is vital to managing these habitat types properly,” says Karl Zinglersen of the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources.