Lead institution:
Underwater Gardens International – Spain
Active restoration has emerged as one of the preferred tools that may boost sequels of marine protected areas and other conservation measures. Restoration acts promote biodiversity, enhance carbon sequestration and accelerate coastal and offshore resilience. Yet, we still lack a program that combines conservation and restoration under a unified setting considering local citizen socio-economic parameters.
BLUE CITIZEN proposal represent a novel restoration approach in which (1) restoration is depicted with ubiquitous properties (2) a profession of “gardeners of the sea” is created and endorsed (3) the project targets the restoration of the most neglected marine biome, the Marine Forests;(4) new ecoengineering aspects are applied; (5) the plan is performed on land and in the sea, from shallow, mesophotic to continental shelf areas; (6) a novel approach for C sequestering is applied and (7) involvement of citizens and local stakeholders with a business plan is developed.
Start date: 01/05/2022
End date: 30/04/2025
Lead Contact: Sergio Rossi (sergio@underwatergardens.com)