LIFE Sparc. Action D1 (General scientific assessment) – T1 report

Within the LIFE Sparc project, 8 sigma areas are being developed to serve as climate buffers and 428 hectares of freshwater tidal nature. This report contains the contribution to action D1 (scientific reporting), specifically the T1 reporting at the end of the project. Because not all areas have been developed, the assessment of expected ecosystem services (chapter 5), and of estuarine habitat evolution and associated sedimentation (chapter 6) is done based on models that were calibrated on past experience in the Scheldt. The LIFE Sparc areas and their effects on the Scheldt estuary will be monitored following the existing systemic monitoring protocol which is described in chapter 7.