The RENOVATE project includes a series of restoration and conservation interventions aimed at restoring the ecological functions of the existing habitats, to be carried out over a time period suitable for recovering ecosystem services, estimated at 10 years. The integration of restoration activities with protection measures will ensure the recovery and maintenance of ecological services lost across areas much larger than those directly affected.

The core strategy of the RENOVATE project is based on analyzing and assessing the ecosystem functionality of species and habitats, which will be investigated through laboratory and in-situ tests. This will be followed by the development of restoration protocols, functional measurements under varying environmental conditions, the creation of indicators based on these experimental measurements, and pilot restoration trials for the habitats under consideration at pre-identified sites.

To this end, innovative methodologies will be used in situ through the deployment of instrumented benthic chambers, and in the laboratory through targeted experiments designed to analyze disturbance thresholds for priority species involved in the restoration, as well as experiments on the reproduction and growth of organisms intended for restoration.

The RENOVATE project will also represent the first example of an integrated restoration approach applied across different habitats at significant spatial and temporal scales. The recovery of the ecological functions of various habitats—using a combination of innovative cultivation techniques (for Cystoseira spp.), recovery of organisms from bycatch (species from coralligenous habitats and Corallium rubrum), collection from natural substrates affected by infrastructure works (Posidonia oceanica, Pinna nobilis, and other species), and organisms made available after storm events—constitutes the first true example of integrated restoration of portions of marine ecosystems.