Proposing tools for the conservation of marine biodiversity and anticipating emerging risks

With technical progress, the development of trade and advances in knowledge, each era has been marked by the emergence of new dangers and therefore new risks. Today, many very heterogeneous phenomena (plastics, antibiobiotics, endocrine disruptors, etc.) can be categorised as emerging risks for marine socio-ecosystems. Although still poorly characterised, the presence and effects of these new contaminants lead to a modification of the environment, imposing adaptations and evolutions for marine species with increasingly recurrent and perceptible negative local consequences, both for biodiversity and for human populations (reduction in the abundance or quality of resources, health risks, habitat degradation, etc.). Faced with emerging risks, the scientific challenge is first and foremost to qualify the risk in order to set up appropriate prevention methods and management tools. More generally, the fight against the direct consequences of human activities and climate change will increasingly require new approaches, based on the prevention of their harmful consequences (development of tools for the conservation of the various components of marine biodiversity) and resilience to the associated natural and technological hazards (development of tools for the restoration of marine habitats). Implementing measures to protect, enhance and compensate for damage to marine habitats and species, including Nature Based Solutions, in order to protect marine biodiversity and maintain its capacity to evolve, is therefore a major scientific challenge for the years ahead.