This autumn, thanks to the effort of our partner Shoreline, we discussed techniques and results of marine restoration of macroalgae forests with international academics and managers of Marine Protected Areas from across the Mediterranean Sea.
The REEForest project aims to raise awareness also among professionals working with the sea about the decline of marine forests: it has been a month full of networking and meetings to further expand the protection network for Cystoseira sensu lato!
Meeting with the MedPan Network
Shoreline researchers participated in the latest in-person meeting organised by MedPan, the network of Mediterranean Marine Protected Area managers. After several preparatory online meetings, a group of selected operators was invited to the Cabo de Gata MPA in Spain.
Participants had the opportunity to observe the inner workings of a historic Spanish MPA and to explore topics related to funding, stakeholder engagement and restoration techniques. Shoreline colleagues contributed by presenting the experience of the Miramare MPA in Trieste and illustrating our project activities in the four selected MPA. They focused on describing the importance of MPA monitoring of macroalgae forests to map their coverage all over the Mediterranean Sea.
An international visit
On November 20th, we had the pleasure of meeting a delegation of professors from Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University and representatives from the General Directorate for Natural Resources Protection of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change of Turkey for a meeting dedicated to the exchange of knowledge and expertise in the field of marine restoration.
During the meeting, organised by the Miramare MPA in collaboration with our partner Shoreline, our colleagues illustrated the ecological role played by macroalgae of the Cystoseira s.l. group and how Marine Protected Areas can contribute to monitoring their presence on the seabed and assessing their conservation status.
Training in Porto Cesareo
Just before Christmas, Saul Ciriaco from Shoreline participated as a lecturer in a training session with Italian Marine Protected Areas at the Porto Cesareo AMP. The course, coordinated by CONISMA, is aimed at operators of MPA, institutions and associations that carry out scientific research in Porto Cesareo, with the aim of enhancing skills in the monitoring, management and protection of marine ecosystems.
Saul Ciriaco presented the fifth module of the course, dedicated to benthic habitat restoration techniques, with a particular focus on Habitat 1170 and the results obtained by our project.
