MINING IMPACT III

MININGIMPACT aims to strengthen the scientific basis for understanding and managing the environmental risks of deep-sea mining. Building on earlier project phases, MININGIMPACT 3 investigates baseline ecosystem conditions, mining-related disturbance, and the vulnerability of deep-sea ecosystems in polymetallic nodule regions, including the Clarion-Clipperton Zone and the DISCOL experimental area. The project brings together research on trace metal accumulation, biodiversity, connectivity, ecotoxicology, and pelagic-benthic processes to assess how mining pressures may affect deep-sea environments across space and time.

MARECO contributes through trace metal environmental baseline development, data harmonisation and stakeholder-focused science-policy work that helps connect scientific evidence with the evolving international regulatory framework for deep-sea mining.

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Partners: Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences – SUMO team (BE, studying abiotic effects of deep-sea mining such as suspended matter and sedimentology), Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar & Marine Research (AWI), Bielefeld University (DE), Centre for applied research at NHH (NO), Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (DE), GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (DE; coordinator), Ghent University (BE), DNVGL (NO), Institute of Marine Research (PT), Ifremer (FR), Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (PT), Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (PT), International Seabed Authority (JM), Jacobs University Bremen gGmbH (DE), MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Science, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (DE), Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NO), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NO), Polytechnic University of Marche (IT), Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NL), Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (DE), Uni Research (NO), UNEP GRID-Arendal (NO), Universidade de Aveiro (PT), Universidade do Algarve (PT), Kiel University (DE), University of Łódź (PL), University of Southampton (UK), Utrecht University (NL), Delft University of Technology (NL)

Degraer, S., Patel, T., Vanreusel, A., Pape, E. (eds). 2025. Perspectives from the Belgian round-table meetings about deep-seabed polymetallic nodule mining pressures and impacts, 50 pp.