THE PROJECT

The Eco-Safe Ridge Mining project is a 4-year, NOK 16 million collaborative and knowledge building project funded by The Research Council of Norway. The project aims to fill key knowledge gaps about deep-sea ecosystems on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge. A better understanding is crucial and timely to inform policy and management decisions, especially with regard to identifying environmental hazards, risks and appropriate mitigation actions concerning deep-sea mining activities on the Norwegian shelf.  The deep sea is still poorly studied and may hold potential for many discoveries, including new species and compounds. Limited scientific knowledge of the marine ecosystems where mineral resources occur precludes an objective assessment of the risks involved with mining and effective protection of important ecosystems from harmful effects of mining-related activities. ​