Background Many of the Mediterranean coastal and marine habitats of the Lazio region in central Italy and of Calabria in the south are under threat directly, or indirectly, from human activities. The ancient coastal/ marine landscapes boast a “mosaic” of rare and threatened habitats listed in the EU habitats directive. The areas boast eight coastal or marine SCIs (Lazio) and one marine SCI (Calabria). Each site has a high nature value, but together they represent over 6 000 ha of important Mediterranean coastal and marine habitats. Abandonment, ignorance of their importance, or simple carelessness, has seriously endangered the conservation status of some of these habitats. Objectives The project’s main objective was to safeguard, conserve and monitor the conservation status of some of the regions’ rare and endangered Mediterranean coastal and marine habitats and species, including those listed as ‘priority’ for conservation according to the Habitats Directive. The project actions would take place within a wider context of the Mediterranean biogeographical regional conservation strategy. The project aimed to involve local people and to generate public support and awareness for the sustainable development of marine and coastal areas. As well as the general public, its communication and dissemination actions would target fishery associations, tourism operators and environmental NGOs. In addition, the project planned to directly involve the regional authority, provinces and municipalities. Results Project actions were planned for eight coastal or marine SCIs in the Lazio region; and for one marine site in Calabria. These actions focussed on the drawing up of planning documents (an overall Action Plan for the conservation of the coastal sites of Lazio, Guidelines for the restoration of coastal habitats in the Mediterranean context, Management Plans for the sites of Lazio). Some pilot actions were carried out in each site. Unfortunately, over the course of the project, one site became unavailable due to military restrictions, and the actions to be carried out in another site had to be cancelled. The actual conservation works included the establishment of protection measures (fences, marked footpaths), the excavation of Phragmites, and the establishment of islets in a coastal lagoon. Others actions were the installation of buoys to delineate the marine SCI, the restoration of footpaths for guided visits, the plantation of local species to consolidate eroded slopes, the thinning of a pine forest with the removal of deadwood, and the installation of submerged concrete barriers to protect the priority Posidonia beds against trawl nets. All the actions were accompanied by monitoring activities that have contributed to increasing knowledge of the sites and to informing on the impacts of the measures. The monitoring activities were reported in the recently-established ‘Regional Biodiversity Observatory’. Finally, as planned, various information and dissemination activities were carried out by the project. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Conservation Plan (see "Read more" section).