COASTS AND SEAS

Discover Europe’s beautiful coasts and seas, their different habitats and wildlife, and what the EU is doing to protect them.

Marine and costal ecosystems host a rich diversity of life, vital for human well-being and livelihoods. They provide seafood and raw materials, produce oxygen and sequester carbon, prevent erosion and floods, and offer an important cultural, aesthetic, recreational and educational environment. Almost half of Europe’s population lives in coastal regions.

However, our marine and coastal environment is under increasing pressure. Among the key threats are coastal development, pollution, boat traffic, overfishing, sports and leisure activities, invasive alien species as well as climate change.

In the EU, we are taking important measures to combat these threats and to conserve our marine species and habitats through the implementation of the EU Nature Directives and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, a legal framework that is translated into national laws across Europe.

Learn more about the status, threats and protection efforts around Europe’s coasts and seas.

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COASTAL AND MARINE HABITATS

Europe’s marine and coastal environment is remarkably varied. Along the EU’s coastlines, 39 types of coastal habitats are protected, including stony beaches, estuaries, lagoons, salt marshes, sea cliffs and a diversity of dunes.

Sand dunes border long stretches of the EU’s coastline. 17 different types of dunes are protected in the EU. Dunes develop from sediment which is moved onshore by the tide to form a beach. When they are kept away from tides, dunes are usually colonised and stabilised by vegetation.

Dunes are among the coastal habitats most threatened by human developments and are mostly in a bad condition. Tourism-related activities in particular often contribute to the modification of natural coastlines and the degradation of dune habitats. Invasive alien species that are not native to European dunes can also have a negative impact as they can dominate and displace native flora and fauna.

Coastal and marine habitats

Marine habitats: seagrasses, the forests of the sea

MARINE HABITATS: SEAGRASSES, THE FORESTS OF THE SEA

The EU seas contain a rich diversity of habitats of which nine main types are protected, including sandbanks, seagrass beds, sea caves, reefs and some stunning habitats in the deep sea, such as submarine structures made by leaking gases. These habitats host rich communities of marine animals: Posidonia beds for instance provide homes for many of them - but they are also under threat.

MARINE WILDLIFE

Our seas are home to nearly 150 protected species of dolphins, whales, seals, marine turtles, seabirds and fish.

Seabirds

Seventy-nine protected seabird speciesfly above European seas, including petrels, shearwaters, gannets, cormorants, skuas, gulls, terns and auks. Seabirds usually spend much of their life at sea and come ashore only to breed. Some species migrate over thousands of kilometres, spending only part of the year on our coasts. This is the case for the Artic tern (Sterna paradisaea), for example, whose flyway is the longest migration known, passing along the whole Atlantic coast during its Artic-Antarctic migration.

All seabirds are protected in the EU under the Birds Directive and they include some of the most endangered birds, such as the critically endangered Balearic Shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus), which is facing extinction. Other species have a more favourable status, with increasing populations, such as the Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus), the Mediterranean Gull (Larus melanocephalus) and the Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii).

MARINE MAMMALS

Europe is home to 44 species of marine mammals including whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals. Thirty-six species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises — collectively known as cetaceans — are found in European seas. These mammals represent 42 percent of cetacean species known around the globe, and include the Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), the common Bottle-nosed Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus). Some of these species are very good divers: the sperm whale or cachalot (Physeter macrocephalus) can dive to a depth of more than 2,000 metres in search of its preferred food, the giant squid.

Cetaceans are extremely sensitive to underwater noise and collisions with marine traffic. Small cetaceans are also often caught by accident in fishing gear. All marine mammals are strictly protected under the Habitats Directive across the EU. Member States have to implement preventive measures to ensure that the main threats and pressures do not have a significant negative impact on cetacean populations. In addition, in a joint European effort coordinated by the European Environment Agency, Member States must regularly assess and report on the status of marine mammal species. However, research on marine mammals is challenging and the real situation of a high proportion of species is either unknown or bad, pointing towards a need for strengthened conservation efforts.

Marine mammals

Marine turtles

MARINE TURTLES

Out of the seven existing species of marine turtles in the world, five are found in the EU and all are strictly protected by the Habitats Directive. The loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and the Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nest in Mediterranean beaches. A female turtle may travel 12,000 kilometres to get back to the beach where she hatched as a baby, and will lay her own eggs on the very same beach as an adult.

A further three species of turtles are visitors to the Mediterranean Sea and the North-east Atlantic Ocean (especially around Madeira, the Canary Islands and the Azores). These are the Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) and Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata). Marine turtles have not been observed in the Baltic Sea and are very rare visitors to the Black Sea. [Links in this paragraph might be switched with the new factsheet]

OTHER EU EFFORTS TO PROTECT OUR COASTS AND SEAS

Many of the efforts and successes in safeguarding Europe’s marine environment are coordinated and supported at the European level. In addition to the Nature Directives, which protect marine species and habitats and create the Natura 2000 network, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive is an ambitious EU legislation specifically devoted to addressing the main pressures on the marine environment and aiming to achieving good environmental status in our seas.

The European Commission has also launched its EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, which aims to eliminate or reduce bycatch of threatened species to a level that allows species recovery and conservation.

Marine litter has become a serious problem for many coastal and marine habitats and species. In the EU, 80-85 percent of marine litter is plastic (of which single-use plastic products account for 50 percent) and fishing-related items account for 27 percent. The EU Directive on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment introduces a set of ambitious measures, including the ban on single-use products made of plastic for which alternatives already exist on the market, measures to reduce food containers and beverage cups made of plastic, and a separate collection target for plastic bottles.

The EU also provides financial support for the conservation and protection of marine biodiversity through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and the EU LIFE programme. A wide range of successful projects has been funded so far under these two programmes.

Other EU efforts to protect our coasts and seas

KNOW MORE

The Marine Information System for Europe - WISE provides access to information and data on the state of Europe's seas, on the pressures affecting them and on actions that are being taken to conserve the marine environment.

EU Coastal and Marine Policy and legislation, including the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the Common Fisheries Policy and the Integrated maritime polict.