Montenegro, the project as seen by its contributors 

The marine survey in Montenegro was undertaken within the project in early October 2019. It contributed to filling the gaps in knowledge about the state of the marine environment, due to lack of data, and allowed to test some of the proposed monitoring stations. Field researches enabled to learn more about the quality of Montenegro's waters and their ecological status. Researchers also gathered valuable information on marine biodiversity, and specially on the populations of Gold Coral (Savalia savaglia), which were never observed in such a big number in the Mediterranean. 

However, the research also revealed many other peculiarities belonging to Montenegro's seas and the species that inhabit them, as Vesna Mačić tells us in this interview. Vesna Mačić is a researcher at the Institute of Marine Biology of Kotor who for many months took part in the hard work carried out in the open sea.

The results of the surveys will form the basis for future decision making in the management of Montenegrin coastal areas.  Actions concerning the sea can also play an important part in the EU accession process. Marine spatial planning, for example, is one of the activities which will facilitate Montenegro's accession to the EU. Marine spatial planning based on the ecosystem approach is key to the sustainable development of an area, and the Montenegrin authorities are aware of this, as explained in the following interview by Ivana Stojanovic, a member of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro: