Integrated and coordinated approaches for coral reefs and associated ecosystems (mangroves and seagrass beds) conservation, restoration, and climate mitigation and adaptation

Successful projects will deliver:
• Increased protection, restoration and resilience of coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds in both protected and non-protected areas, aligned with the EU Nature Restoration Regulation and EU climate adaptation/mitigation strategies.
• Effective integrated land-sea planning and management approaches that treat associated ecosystems jointly, embedding field, scientific and IPLC knowledge into actionable guidelines.
• Strengthened international initiatives through better coordination and reduced fragmentation of interventions and resources for coastal ecosystem conservation and management.
• Enhanced durable intervention capacity in EU outermost regions, overseas countries and territories, and in third countries—particularly Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States—through targeted capacity building and empowerment tools.

Proposals must focus on geographic areas where shallow coral reefs (including mesophotic extensions), mangroves and seagrass beds co-occur and interact. They must:
• Provide an improved mechanistic understanding of ecosystem functional ecology, species assemblages and biogeochemical processes to inform management and restoration.
• Investigate key functional groups and adaptation potential under climate change, including roles of microbiomes, periphyton and symbionts.
• Quantify ecological and socioeconomic impacts of habitat loss on local and distant communities.
• Combine multiple scientific disciplines with active restoration techniques to develop functional-targeted management and restoration approaches that enhance resilience and co-evolutionary processes.
• Co-develop practical guidelines with IPLC knowledge and scientific expertise, integrating experiences from relevant EU (e.g. FPI Governance MPA, BEST initiative), regional and international projects, and fostering a community of practice among protected area managers.
• Design guidelines that transcend local scales by incorporating trophic and life-trait connectivity and anticipating future climate scenarios.
• Support international coordination and capacity building: create training materials, empowerment tools, data accessibility platforms, and local monitoring/management protocols.
• Develop and validate cost-effective, enduring monitoring methods (sensor networks, remote-sensing, citizen science).
• Perform natural capital valuation and cost–benefit analyses of restoration and conservation measures across ecosystem services.
• Plan dedicated coordination tasks and resources to cluster with and leverage results from other relevant projects and initiatives.