SeaForest LIFE at the Nautical Institute of Procida

Last week an on-line seminar was held with the Nautical Institute of Procida regarding the protection of Posidonia oceanica and the impacts generated by recreational boating, an activity carried out within the Senate and Environment Call. In this regard, ISPRA beneficiary of our project, supported the classes in an analysis using satellite images of the flow of pleasure boating around the island in order to verify the possible impacts on the Posidona meadaows and on hydrocarbon pollution. The seminar naturally talked about the SeaForest LIFE project, the protection of P. oceanica and the new innovative monitoring systems. Specifically, the monitoring and census procedures of the boats developed within our project have been adopted.

 

Monitoring visit 2020

The monitoring visit 2020 to our project was held on Monday 14th December.

An important moment of evaluation and comparison with the monitor of the NEEMO - THIMESIS team.

Unfortunately, for this year we have to settle for videoconferencing, hoping to be able to see us in person soon!

The value of Blue Carbon ecosystems for climate change adaptation and mitigation

This is the title of the webinar organized by the IUCN Center for Mediterranean Cooperation to which we presented our project.
This seminar is one of the actions within the LIFE Blue Natura, a European project to know and quantify the blue carbon sinks of marine meadows and coastal wetlands in Andalusia and evaluate their environmental services using the tools and policies related to climate change.
This webinar presented experts and practitioners' on:
- Knowledge about the value of coastal wetlands and seagrasses for adaptation and mitigation climate change;
- Experiences and initiatives of restoration and conservations initiatives on coastal wetland and seagrass across EU and the Mediterranean.

Download HERE the complete program of the event and HERE the slides presented on our project.

Data processing of the DEVSS autonomous surface vehicle

The data acquired by the SeaForest LIFE project, thanks to the partner ISPRA, with the autonomous surface vehicle DEVSS "DEvelopment Vehicle for Scientific Survey" using the Biosonics acoustic sensor, during the campaign carried out at the Marine Protected Areas of Santa Maria di Castellabate and Porto Infreschi, at the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, were developed with the support of Prof. Erhan Mutlu of Akdeniz University - Turkey.

Posidonia biomass data expressed in grams/m2, accompanied by geographic coordinates, and the height of the canopy in meters were obtained. In order to validate the biomass protocol, through the indirect estimation. The project is carrying out tests with underwater photogrammetry and by analyzing satellite images with the support of the Spin-Off 3D Research of the University of Calabria.

To date, for the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, we have prepared an important database for the Blue Carbon component of the project. The acquired data will be transferred shortly by ISPRA to colleagues of the University of Tuscia for the enhancement of the INVEST model.

 

 

 

A Dutch master thesis that talks about SeaForest LIFE

Conservation of Posidonia oceanica in the Mediterranean Sea - A case study analysis of barriers to the conservation of Posidonia and the role of contextual factors from a social-ecological perspective

It is the title of the master thesis of a student from Maastricht University, Dagmar Croes, who also spoke about our LIFE project in her research.

Abstract
Because of the valuable ecological functions and ecosystem services Posidonia oceanica meadows provide to nature and humans, the critical consequences associated with their deterioration and the irreversibility of losses, it is crucial to protect and conserve the Posidonia meadows that exist today. The continuous regression of Posidonia, despite extensive policies at the EU level, and the disagreement about its conservation indicate context dependency and the presence of barriers situated at the local level. This research therefore aims to get a better understanding of these barriers to the conservation of Posidonia and the role of contextual factors from a social-ecological perspective. Because there are prima facie reasons to suppose that island and mainland sites will present different challenges to Posidonia conservation, the research project explores this hypothesis through a comparative case study approach, while applying the DPSIR framework. The main research questions addressed are: “Do island and mainland coasts face different barriers in the conservation of Posidonia oceanica and, if so, what are the contextual factors determining these barriers?” and “What measures can be taken to overcome barriers to the conservation of Posidonia?” The research revealed barriers relating to lack of awareness, policy constraints, and knowledge uncertainty that were not linked to the specific island or mainland contexts. Recommendations to overcome these barriers involve awareness raising, boundary work, and communication and consensus building.