The Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) is Germany-wide the only research institute for the study of tropical and subtropical marine ecosystems and their services to human societies.

The mission of ZMT is to provide a scientific basis for the protection and sustainable use of tropical coastal ecosystems by conducting research, capacity development and consulting activities in close cooperation with international and national partners. Those activities are rooted in an impact-oriented inter- and transdisciplinary approach, integrating social and natural sciences.

As one of the first research institutes in Germany, ZMT, from its very beginning in 1991, genuinely brought together the key disciplines for the holistic assessment of marine resource use and management in the tropics. Today, ZMT continues to play a leading role in the integration of social and natural science approaches, as well as transdisciplinary stakeholder involvement processes bridging the science-practice gap.

With its inter- and transdisciplinary approach to the study of tropical coastal systems, ZMT has earned a special position within the German marine research environment and it sets the agenda for coastal science cooperation between Germany and partner countries in the tropics.