To reach its goals, SturNet is built around three main activities:
The project collects environmental, biological, and genetic (eDNA) data to understand where and when sturgeons are at greatest risk. This data feeds into the development of the project’s digital tools. Historical datasets and real-time field campaigns from multiple partner countries are combined to model population dynamics.
A collaborative network is being established among researchers, NGOs, local authorities, and public institutions. This platform supports joint conservation strategies, awareness campaigns, and knowledge-sharing on threats and solutions across the Black Sea region.
A key innovation of the project is the creation of a real-time Digital Mapping Tool and App. This platform will show marine areas categorized by their need for conservation- interactive, open-access, and updated dynamically with new monitoring results.
Main Expected Results:
The SturNet project will deliver three key outputs:
A consolidated document agreed upon by all partners, offering policy recommendations to improve the conservation status of sturgeon species in the Black Sea Basin.
A real-time, web-based mapping platform and mobile application that categorizes marine areas based on their conservation risk for sturgeons, updated dynamically with monitoring data.
A scientific publication presenting the analysis of sturgeon population dynamics, based on both historical and newly collected environmental and biological data.
These outputs will contribute to two main results:
Uptake and use of the SturNet digital tools and methodologies by public authorities and institutions, leading to better protection of sturgeon habitats and improved ecosystem services in the Black Sea.
Strengthened cooperation among partner organizations, demonstrated through signed Memoranda of Cooperation and a joint commitment to use and promote the digital tools after the end of the project.