Positive effects of two decades of passive ecological restoration in a historically polluted marine site

The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most exploited regions world’s oceans. Here industrial activities have determined either acute or long-term impacts on coastal marine ecosystems. In this study, we investigated macrofauna distribution and diversity, food-web functioning in a area facing an chemical plant abandoned ‘90s to assess benthic ecosystem health. This has been identified as Site National Interest (SNI) since 2002 closed any human activity awaiting be remediated according national laws. Our results indicate that, two decades after SNI declaration (a decade decommissioning), there no longer sign impact historical contaminations food web functioning. Overall, all thirty-six sites showed high/good ecological quality score assigned by AMBI M-AMBI indexes, reflecting absence chronic impacts. findings reveal, for first time, positive effects passive restoration (i.e., unassisted, spontaneous recovery following cessation anthropogenic impacts) historically impacted ecosystems their health conditions, terms both abiotic (environmental variables contaminant concentration) biotic (macrofauna diversity community composition, structure) factors, were indistinguishable from surrounding non-impacted areas. These also suggest that other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) could useful not only biodiversity vulnerable priority habitats larger ocean sectors but promote contaminated