The SeaStore research project, in which the IKK is also involved as a partner, was honoured as part of the UN Decade competition ‘Sea and Coast’.
As part of the UN Decade Project Competition, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, together with the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), annually recognizes current, representative projects for the restoration, conservation or maintenance of ecosystems. This year, marine and coastal ecosystems in Germany were on the competition agenda. The SeaStore project is about the reintroduction of seagrass meadows in the German Baltic Sea.
BfN Vice President Thomas Graner: "Our seas and coasts are of inestimable value to nature and therefore also to us humans. These unique ecosystems and their functions must be preserved and restored. The award-winning projects in the UN Decade Project Competition ‘Seas and Coasts’ are a good example of how this can be achieved."
Seagrass meadows are hotspots of biodiversity and provide important ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and sediment stabilization, which are of great importance for climate and coastal protection. The “SeaStore” project, jointly implemented by the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUKN) and the Federal Ministry of Research (BMFTR) in the Natural Climate Protection Action Program, is therefore developing and testing methods for their large-scale reintroduction in the German Baltic Sea. The main aim is to create a comprehensive guide for the protection and reintroduction of seagrass meadows in the southern Baltic Sea, which will support authorities and other stakeholders in planning and implementing their own projects.
Nine partners are currently cooperating in the project. The project was honoured for its important development of scientific principles, its contribution to the restoration of this globally threatened habitat and its comprehensive communication work.
Maike Paul from Leibniz Universität Hannover accepted the certificate and the wooden trophy on behalf of the entire project consortium.
Other award-winning projects are:
The “Sand Coast St. Peter-Ordingen” project and the “Cooperative Nature and Water Conservation at the Baltic Sea estuary Schlei” project.
Further details and background information on the competition
