Denmark’s largest marine restoration project aims to revive southern Funen’s dying archipelago

A 150 million kroner donation from the A.P. Møller Foundation will fund Denmark’s most ambitious marine recovery effort to date, targeting the severely degraded waters of the South Funen Archipelago, Danish broadcaster DR reports.

The project—described as the largest single marine restoration initiative in Europe—will focus on rebuilding collapsed stone reefs, replanting eelgrass beds, establishing mussel reefs, and reintroducing native species across coastal areas of Ærø, Langeland, Svendborg, and Faaborg-Midtfyn municipalities.

Rasmus Elmquist Casper, head of the UNESCO Global Geopark South Funen Archipelago, called the scale “unprecedented” but stressed that reducing agricultural nitrogen runoff into the waters remains critical for long-term success.

The A.P. Møller Foundation, tied historically to the region as the birthplace of the Mærsk shipping empire, framed the grant as part of a broader vision to improve conditions for wildlife, ecosystems, and local communities.

“These waters lie close to the foundation’s heart—personally, historically—and their dire state rightly concerns many,” said Ane Mærsk Mc-Kinney Uggla, the foundation’s chair.