As the deployment of blue economy sectors across Europe accelerates, it is vital that the resilience of marine and coastal ecosystems is maintained and restored in order to allow economic growth to be achieved in a sustainable manner. However, despite best efforts to conserve and sustainably manage marine ecosystems, attempts to mitigate human threats are generally proving inadequate to halt biodiversity loss and habitat degradation. Consequently, there is a need for the European Union to turn policy objectives relating to secure, safe, clean and sustainably managed oceans into actions and impacts. This is particularly true in coastal habitats, where the effects of multiple stressors are causing widespread loss of critical coastal habitats, a pattern which is projected to increase with climatic change.

Macroalgal forest ecosystems play a key role in enhancing coastal primary productivity, supporting complex food webs and are integral to the delivery of a multitude of goods and services. However, the massive losses of macroalgal forests that are occurring all over the Mediterranean basin are going largely unnoticed and we do not have the tools or knowledge required to bring about change. AFRIMED seeks to bring about a step-change in this situation, by developing, implementing and promoting a protocol to effectively restore macroalgal forests (Cystoseira spp.) in the Mediterranean Sea in order to maximise the delivery of conservation, societal and economic benefits

In order to achieve this objective, we will harness the knowledge and expertise of a multidisciplinary team to develop, refine and implement novel restoration actions, and formulate guidelines that can be used to bring about measurable change in macroalgal forest health in the region. A key ambition is to deliver clear and robust methods that can support the successful upscaling of the project in larger and new regions and maximise buy-in from, and the benefits provided to, relevant stakeholders.

 This project has received funding from the Executive Agency for Small and Medium Enterprise (EASME) and European Maritime and Fisheries fund (EMFF) under grant agreement No 789059