Authors:
Simonetta Fraschetti
Publication Date:
2021
Abstract/Summary:
Global change and direct anthropogenic impacts increasingly affect most marine habitats at
planetary scale. In most cases, conservation and management are largely insufficient to
maintain the health of marine habitats. Despite marine restoration is a relatively young
scientific discipline, restoration interventions are increasingly considered key actions when
changes of degraded ecosystems are beyond the potential of natural recovery. As a
consequence, despite the evaluation of restoration results is still a complex task, success
stories are becoming increasingly evident across marine habitats and geographical areas. In
my talk, I will synthesize recent knowledge in marine habitat restoration showing the main
outcomes from coordinated experiments to individuate determinants of restoration success,
under the umbrella of international projects. Then, I will describe the challenges to support
restoration upscaling, stressing the need for multidisciplinary, systemic approaches including
the full involvement of industry and human society. I will also discuss the need for setting
realistic restoration targets to empower the potential of marine ecosystems to recover their
structures and functions, including the consideration of the services they provide that should
be fully considered in the evaluations of a restoration intervention. Finally, I will discuss the
importance of developing guidelines for integrating conservation planning and prioritization
of sites for restoration within a Maritime Spatial Planning perspective to improve the
resilience of conservation/restoration plans to cumulative human impacts and climate
change.
Resource Type:
Conference Presentation
Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program
Source:
SERE2021