SPHERE

Europe is far from meeting its 2030 targets for marine biodiversity protection: ~12% of seas are MPAs and 86% of these areas remain under light, minimal or no protection. Strictly protected networks—key to biodiversity, climate resilience and sustainable fisheries—remain fragmented and hard to implement. SPHERE addresses this gap by cooperating with national/regional authorities, maritime industry representatives and coastal communities to develop a modular, science-based decision-support framework that integrates best-available ecological and environmental evidence, ecosystem-service values, socio-economic criteria, spatial/temporal trade-offs, and governance alignment with MSFD, MSPD and the Nature Restoration Law. By doing so, SPHERE will provide the operational and evidence foundations needed to support and accelerate the effective implementation of strict protection networks across European seas. To prove adaptability across scales and governance settings, SPHERE framework will be demonstrated in contrasting contexts: a transboundary Northern Seas network (macro, multi-country coordination and cross-border MSP) and archipelago pilots (micro, high-use island systems close to communities). showing how common building blocks adapt to data availability, governance and socio-ecological realities, converging on socially workable, designation-ready and policy-consistent Pilot Network Blueprints. SPHERE will deliver ≥4 network blueprints; open FAIR datasets and reproducible methods (feeding EMODnet and the Digital Twin of the Ocean); a sector impact-assessment package; pilot-level governance strategies; and an EU-level upscaling strategy with recommendations. A replicable framework will help Member States, Regional Sea Conventions and communities scale results. Outcomes will improve knowledge on marine habitats and their services, enable coherent strict-protection networks, inform maritime spatial planning and accelerate implementation in line with 2030 objectives.