Large-scale conservation and restoration of critically threatened seagrass habitat on Atlantic infralittoral sand and coastal lagoons

Project Aim

The aim of the project is to conserve and restore priority seagrass habitats, implementing solutions to the loss of priority marine vegetation habitat (seagrasses):

• Non-Macaronesian seagrass beds on Atlantic infralittoral sand (A5.53), a Critically Endangered habitat by the European Red List of Habitats.
• Brackish or saline coastal lagoons, a priority habitat under Habitat Directive Annex II (1150).

Background

The project builds upon the unique expertise and lessons learned in our previous successful seagrass restoration (LIFE-BIOMARES project), which we have followed for over a decade. This demonstrated the methodological approaches required for success and the importance of using large spatial and temporal scales.

Therefore, this is a 7-year project designed to ensure stability in open coast seagrass restoration and long-term seagrass habitat conservation and restoration in salt pans.

Innovation in Aquaculture

This project will be a pioneer in demonstrating a solution to obtain biomass of critically rare marine plant species for restoration by integrating it into sustainable mutually beneficial multitrophic aquaculture. This innovation will be applied here to upscale and demonstrate the capacity, potential, and benefits of sublittoral Atlantic seagrass restoration at a large scale.

Carbon Market Accreditation

This project will also pioneer the demonstration, as the first case in Europe, of an official accreditation in the global carbon market of the carbon stocks that are retained and sequestered by the conservation and restoration of seagrass habitat for carbon footprint compensation.

The translation of the conservation actions into value in the global carbon market is expected to trigger a wave of other projects claiming similar accreditation, thereby motivating private funding to invest in marine vegetation as compensation for carbon footprints.

Long-term Sustainability

The project innovations include this and several other sustainable solutions that will persist in the long term and will be exploited and expanded globally to similar conservation and restoration initiatives worldwide.