Revive

This Interreg project, which was awarded in May, aims to implement a Cross-Border Collaboration for a Shared Environmental Goal. The name of the project, REVIVE, shall bring together five Maltese and Italian partners, uniting their expertise to restore and protect Mediterranean ecosystems. The 5 partners include the University of Malta, University of Palermo, Ambjent Malta (MEEE), the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – Istituto per l’Impatto Antropico e Sostenibilità in ambiente marino, and the Istituto Superiore Per La Protezione E Ricerca Ambientale. The total cost of the Project, which is 80% co-financed, is €1,274,469.55. The allocation for Ambjent Malta is €205,078.64 and implementation started in 2025 and will run until November 2027 (2.5 years).

The main aim of this project is to:

Boosting biodiversity: Deploying artificial reefs that restore marine habitats and boost biodiversity.
Protecting native species: Studying and managing Invasive Alien Species to protect priority marine habitats.
Assessing pollution impacts: Investigating the role of marine litter on ecosystem status.

The actions within the project objectives shall provide baseline information for the implementation of future nature restoration plans in line with the Nature Restoration Law (EU, 2024/1991) and entail defining cohesive actions to rebuild degraded ecosystems. Within the framework of the NRL, active and passive restoring interventions are proposed as possible solutions to conserve marine coastal ecosystems, since the natural recovery of ecosystems can be difficult in a reasonable time frame.

Ambjent Malta shall be focusing on marine litter and invasive species in Comino. AM will use the boat to conduct monitoring in selected areas in Comino to map and monitor litter (coastal, seabed and floating) in line with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. In conjunction with the monitoring of floating marine litter, the presence of invasive species on floating marine litter shall be assessed by UM and ISPRA using pcr/eDNA. Within this project, the use of innovative technologies includes the purchase of an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) which can be used for monitoring as well as a device to remove floating litter. The mapping of NIS and the removal of Oculina patagonica will be implemented in the Comino Region (including Ċirkewwa, Comino and Mġarr).