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Description
The ocean provides vital ecosystem services, threatened by anthropogenic and climate change (CC) pressures. Their undesirable impacts can be mitigated if ecosystem-based management, adaptive marine spatial planning, and habitat restoration strategies are implemented. BLUEFORESTING builds upon these approaches to provide CC ready nature-based solutions (NBS) to successfully manage the most iconic coastal habitats, Marine Seaweed Forests. Although threatened, these ecosystems are biodiversity-rich, recognized as cost-effective NBS with potential to mitigate CC effects. Their capacity to deliver key ecosystem services and support blue growth makes them blue infrastructures. Fostering healthy marine forests means promoting regional fisheries, recreational activities, and cultural traditions while fighting biodiversity loss and CC. In this context, BLUEFORESTING will develop science-based guidance to foster sustainable and healthy marine forests by assessing baseline information (e.g., genetics, processes, functions, services), and identifying climate refugia areas. BLUEFORESTING models and tools will provide vulnerability assessments to co-develop effective and climate ready NBS. Expected results are of paramount importance to support future marine protection and reforestation actions in a cost-effective and sustainable way. BLUEFORESTING aligns with the EU Blue Growth agenda as it proposes sustainable ecosystem-based management actions that can help proactively protect and increase the resilience of marine forests under CC, guaranteeing the provision of associated services. BLUEFORESTING represents an excellent opportunity to prove how science-based governance may promote the sustainability of marine habitats and services. The established partnership will promote bilateral knowledge transfer and dissemination, strengthening international cooperation and cooperation while increasing value creation and sustainable growth in the Portuguese blue economy.