First Round Table in the frame of the Project REEFS

On 29-30 November 2012, First Round Table in the frame of the Project Research and Restoration of the Essential Filter of the Sea – REEFS under the “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013” (Black Sea Basin Programme) which is an EU funded Programme financed by the ENPI and IPA instruments, is taking place in Odessa, Republic of Ukraine.
The aim of this round table is to review the legislative and institutional framework together with the administrative procedures related to reefs conservation and restoration in Black Sea in the partnering countries Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine.
Scientists, researchers, environmentalists, legal experts and public bodies' representatives are exchanging information and discussing on the legal and environmental aspects of the artificial reefs' deployment, needed advocacy measures as well as building networks and synergies between the stakeholders in the Black Sea Basin.
Opening speeches are giving Prof. Boris Aleksandrov, Head of the Odessa Branch of the Institute for Biology of Southern Seas (OBIBSS) and Mr. Petko Tzvetkov, Project Manager on behalf of Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation – REEFS Project Lead Partner.
REEFS project partners are: Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation, Georgian ILIA State University from Tbilisi, Romanian NGO Mare Nostrum from Constanta, Turkish Black Sea Technical University in Trabzon and the host partner the Odessa Branch of the Institute for Biology of Southern Seas (OBIBSS).
Research and Restoration of the Essential Filters of the Sea (REEFS) is an international pilot project focused on scientific research of artificial reefs environmental impact in Black Sea. The total Project budget is 627 650 Euro, of which the total Grand amount is 564 885 euro provided by the European Union through the Joint International Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.