WILD

Restoration of the International Marine Protected Area Dogger Bank

Project duration: 2026-2029

The cooperative project funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) between BUND, Senckenberg and AWI integrates historical data and insights from long-term monitoring with innovative approaches for restoring the Dogger Bank habitat. The Dogger Bank is a sandbank in the central North Sea and an ecologically significant marine ecosystem. It extends across the exclusive economic zones of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. In close cooperation with the multinational Rewilding Dogger Bank program, supported by the Endangered Landscapes and Seascapes Programme (ELSP), the project creates a bridge between German and international initiatives and supports the development of a transnational action plan.

As part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the WILD project aims to protect the Dogger Bank ecosystem on a scientific basis, to develop a restoration concept and to strengthen international cooperation.

AWI is leading Work Package 3: Development and support of active restoration measures. The aim is to develop a restoration strategy comprising appropriate passive and active restoration steps. In collaboration with the international Rewilding Dogger Bank program, selected active measures will be defined and tested during a pilot phase.