The Mediterranean lagoons are complex environments that fulfil numerous functions and provide many ecosystem services (water supply, regulation, socio-cultural benefits, etc.). They are generally rich in biodiversity but are also sensitive to natural and anthropogenic environmental fluctuations.
Despite their high ecological value, lagoons remain fragile ecosystems and are particularly exposed to physical pressures and pollution. The challenges of restoring these ecosystems are high, particularly in the context of climate change.
Therefore, monitoring devices remain essential to put forward restoration trajectories and to enhance the efforts made to improve the quality of the lagoons.
With the support of the IFREMER and the Tour du Valat, the French Rhone-Mediterranean-Corsica Water Agency [1] has recently published a “water and knowledge” document on the state of the lagoon waters in the French Mediterranean coast.
The state of these ecosystems has been assessed on the basis of the latest available data, as well as its evolution as shown by the data from monitoring networks.
The document is downloadable from here [2].