SeaStrong

Mangrove forests, seagrass beds, and coral reefs face unprecedented threats from global warming and local stressors. The degradation and loss of these important coastal ecosystems will have catastrophic consequences for humanity. While mitigating ocean warming remains elusive, science-driven solutions are urgently needed to set these ecosystems on a path to recovery. Fragmented conservation and restoration efforts, overlooking connectivity and the needs of Indigenous and local communities, will likely fail to safeguard these ecosystems and the services they provide. Thus, there is an urgent need to understand the multi-dimensional pathways through which mangrove forests, seagrass beds, coral reefs, and humans function in connection to one another, and to co-operationalise this scientific knowledge into climate-smart monitoring practices and effective conservation and restoration strategies. In three Small Island Developing States – Belize, Fiji and Seychelles – important hotspots of coexistence of these three ecosystems and covering major world oceans, SEASTRONG integrates fully with local stakeholders to (1) map spatial connectivity, (2) evaluate pathways, dependencies and wellbeing priorities linking humans to the ecosystems, and (3) establish the extent to which co-existing ecosystems function as metaecosystems, enabling them to maintain key services. We develop open-source, reusable seascape functioning models, quantify impacts of ecosystem loss, project changes under ocean warming and sea-level rise, and assess restoration outcomes. The impact of SEASTRONG is ensured through a strategy for the long-term exploitation of key results, science-based guidelines for conservation and restoration, and broadly usable decision-making tools, all aligned with the needs and aspirations of local communities, the UN Decade for Ocean Science, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, and the EU Nature Restoration Regulation.