TIDE considers tidally influenced NSR estuaries with large sediment transportation which are used as shipping channels to large harbours. The ecosystem services of intertidal and shallow estuarine habitats are threatened and need to be considered to ensure economic benefits and the maintenance of ecologically important areas. At the same time decision-makers at these estuaries are faced with an increasingly challenging legal and global economic framework.

TIDE will lead the path towards a more sustainable and effective use of large scale investments made into mitigation and compensation measures in NSR estuaries by applying for the first time a unified ecosystem approach to guide the process of integrated participatory management planning. Thus TIDE will not only improve the effectiveness of European, national and regional policy and provide instruments for regional development, but will make an essential contribution towards a more sustainable and effective use of investment into North Sea estuaries - since their planning will be based on a unified assessment concept and integrated management planning procedures.