GIS Posidonie

The GIS Posidonie is a Scientific Interest Group created in 1982 at the initiative of the French Ministry of the Environment and the Port-Cros National Park under the status of a law 1901 association. Under an agreement with Aix-Marseille University, its headquarters and permanent team are hosted in premises made available by the MIO through the Pythéas Institute. Its main purpose is research on the marine environment.

Since 1982, the GIS Posidonie has been conducting research and expertise in marine ecology for regional and local authorities, the State, and international organizations. The work entrusted to it is carried out by members of Mediterranean research laboratories assisted by its scientific secretariat and the permanent team of scientific diver-researchers. Its activities focus on the Mediterranean coastal marine environment: biodiversity conservation, inventories and mapping of heritage assets, surveillance systems, ecological monitoring methods, expertise, and management assistance.

Comprising numerous active scientific and managerial members from the Mediterranean, the GIS Posidonie has a Scientific and Administrative Council that defines its orientations and scientific policy.

A permanent team runs the group and contributes to the link between laboratories in Marseille, Corte, Nice, and Perpignan, to which active members of the group belong, as well as to the daily work of the GIS Posidonie. The permanent team consists of a research manager, 2 research engineers, 2 research technicians, and an accountant based in Marseille.

The GIS Posidonie conducts research through partnerships, program calls, or tenders, with incentives from local authorities, ministries, international organizations, and occasionally at the request of the private sector or funding from foundations.