“Development of  an information technology tool
for the management of Southern European lagoons
under the influence of river-basin runoff”

Project EVK3-CT-2002-00084 funded by the European Commission (FP5)

under the « Energy, Environnement et Sustainable Development » Programme

The DITTY EU project was aiming at supporting the management of the lagoons and coastal zones taking into account the lagoons-watersheds interactions. Five study sites were selected in  Portugal (Ria Formosa), Spain (Mar Menor), France (Thau lagoon), Italy (Sacca di Goro) and Greece (gulf of Gera) due to their particular characteristics and specific issues, but the common denominator is to ensure, in an Integrated Coastal Zone Management context, a sustainable development considering all the involved factors: shellfish farming/aquaculture, agricultural practices and tourism development. The problems are more acute on several sites because of the strong anthropogenic pressures and severe threats on the ecosystems and in some cases, restoration measures are urgently needed. The project involved from 2003 to 2006, 16 institutions belonging to 5 euromediterranean countries, under the general coordination of the UMR 5119 “Ecosystèmes Lagunaires”, a CNRS-UMII-Ifremer Joint Research Unit.

Due to the management need and to the socio-economic pressure on the lagoons-watersheds systems, the water quality and the “good ecological status” of the ecosystems constitute a real scientifical, technological and socio-economical challenge. The information technology tools developed and implemented by DITTY project - databases, GIS, models, scenarios analysis, DSS -  form a standard methodological framework for the management of the lagoons, which takes into account the end-users’ priorities and the natural and socio-economical particularities. The main tool produced is the Decision Support System (DSS) which integrates mathematical models able to simulate and analyse the effects on the ecosystem of multiple factors (e.g. lagoon fluid dynamics, river runoff influence, nutrients cycles, shellfish farming, macro-algal blooms, etc.), as well as the socio-economical implications of management options. Applications of these tools allow the rational utilisation and the sustainable management of the lagoons (Greece, France, Spain) and/or their living resources e.g. shellfish farming (Italy, Portugal) and to assess the effectiveness of actions designed to achieve a good environment quality status, as described in the Water Framework Directive. The project’s activities and outcomes along with the publications are available on the project’s web site (http://www.dittyproject.org ).