What did the ecosystems of the North Sea and Baltic Sea look like over 100 years ago? To get to the bottom of this question, the Ecologic Institute project team visited the Museum of Natural History in Berlin in February 2026 as part of the project “The German North Sea and Baltic Sea over 100 Years Ago,” funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. Among historical specimens, handwritten inventory books, and scientific collections, new perspectives on the marine past opened up – and surprising insights for today's marine conservation.

As part of the annual Marine Nature Conservation Colloquium, scientists from the research projects commissioned by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) present their interim results and open questions. On behalf of Ecologic Institute, Dr. Grit Martinez presented initial results from the research project The German North Sea and Baltic Sea over 100 years ago (HISTOMAR). The "Shifting Baseline Syndrome" was the focus of the presentation and the subsequent discussion.

The aim of the project is to obtain as accurate an overview as possible of the ecosystems in the German North Sea and Baltic Sea before the start of intensive human use. This will support the development of a scientific basis for decision-making that will enable the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and the North Sea and Baltic Sea authorities to identify the need for political action to establish specific marine protected areas, to reintroduce projects in the German North Sea and Baltic Sea and to initiate appropriate measures.