The AARC project partnership will cooperate intensively to deliver a strategy for Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM), which will be demonstrated across the Atlantic Area, in targeted river basins, networked by regional/river observatories in each Member State. The actions demonstrated will continue and expand after the project is complete because a central theme of the project is concerned with linking resource protection to sustainable economic development though a Paid Ecosystem Service model, as recommended by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and IUCN via the Ecosystem Approach. Cultural, Economic and Environmental issues will be embraced to deliver sustainable resource protection. A central focus will be culturally and economically important migratory fish species which link water marine, coastal and freshwater resources, which are currently managed separately. The project integrates the strongest elements of previous Interreg IIIB projects in a new coordinated and innovative approach.