TALK 2 –  Dr Isabelle Auby – Ifremer, France: Reflections on three decades of change in the Bassin d’Arcachon.

Dr Isabelle Auby is undoubtedly a legend of the Bassin d’Arcachon. Isabelle submitted her PhD thesis in 1991; modestly titled “A contribution to the study of Zostera noltii seagrass in the Arcachon Basin”. From that point onwards Isabelle was a prolific contributor to advancing our understanding of many elements of marine science before retiring from Ifremer in 2022.

Talk 3 – Dr. Marieke M. van Katwijk – Radboud Universiteit, The Netherlands: Reflections on three decades of change in seagrass restoration.

There is likely not a person working in seagrass restoration today who hasn’t been inspired by the work of Dr. Marieke M. van Katwijk. Marieke started her pioneering research into seagrass restoration in the Dutch Wadden Sea in 1989, and she has been a cornerstone of the global seagrass restoration community ever since. In 2015 she led a Global analysis of seagrass restoration which revealed that the successful regrowth of the foundation seagrass species often requires crossing a minimum threshold of reintroduced individuals, highlighting the importance of large-scale planting efforts.

Talk 8 – Benoit Cajelot – Fugro, Italy – Marine Ecosystem Restoration (MER) Project

The Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) has selected Fugro, in partnership with Compagnia Generale Ripreseaeree (CGR),to map the coastal habitats of the entire Italian coast as part of the Italian government’s Marine Ecosystem Restoration (MER) Project, a groundbreaking initiative under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The MER Project aims to restore the marine habitats, fortify the national system for observing marine and coastal ecosystems, and comprehensively map coastal and marine habitats across Italian waters (specifically Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa seagrass meadows). 

Talk 10 – Dr Leanne Cullen-Unsworth – Project Seagrass, UK: The Planetary Role of Seagrass Conservation.

Dr Leanne Cullen-Unsworth is the CEO of Project Seagrass and an interdisciplinary marine scientist with over 20 year’s experience working collaboratively with people and communities to help conserve and restore nature. Her research explores how we can co-develop conservation solutions that promote such interactions. In 2024 she was included as one of the BBC’s 100 most influential women. Leanne will discuss how rethinking their conservation is critical to understanding their part in fighting our planetary emergency.

Talk 11 – Patrick Astruch – GIS Posidonie, France: Posidonia oceanica restoration – ‘The State of Play’.

Patrick Astruch of GIS Posidonie at Aix-Marseille Université is a key member of the existing European Working Group on “Posidonia restoration”, which recently published the Guidelines for the Active Restoration of Posidonia oceanica (produced in the framework of the Mediterranean Posidonia Network, and with the financial support of the L’Office français de la biodiversité). In 2023 the team at GIS Posidonie implemented the Reposeed program, in quick response to the massive massive flowering of the Posidonia oceanica in 2022.

Talk 12 – Prof. Dr. Fiona Tomas Nash – Imedea (UIB-CSIC), Spain: Cymodocea nodosa restoration – ‘The State of Play’.

Prof. Dr. Fiona Tomas Nash of Imedea (UIB-CSIC) works to understand the processes and mechanisms that regulate the structure and functioning of marine benthic systems, with particular emphasis on how human activities transform them. Fiona splits her research time between the Mediterranean Sea and the NE Pacific. She is an active member of Observadores del Mar (“Seawatchers”), a marine citizen science platform in the Mediterranean that’s fast becoming a point of reference in the marine world.

Talk 13 – Prof. Dr. Laura Govers – Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and NIOZ, The Netherlands: Nanozostera noltii restoration – ‘The State of Play’.

Prof. Dr. Laura Govers of Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (RUG), and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) main goal in science is to contribute to evidence-based nature conservation and restoration of marine ecosystems. Laura is a cofounder of both the Global Seagrass Nursery Network and The Seagrass Consortium. Laura actively engages in collaborations with nature managers and NGOs and works hard to facilitate scientific outreach to a wider audience.

Talk 14 – Prof. Dr. Richard Unsworth – Project Seagrass and Swansea University, UK – Zostera marina restoration – ‘The State of Play’.

Prof. Dr. Richard Unsworth of Swansea University is a cofounder and Chief Scientific Officer at Project Seagrass. Richard’s expertise lie in the ecological structuring processes of seagrass meadows which has led to his leading role in seagrass restoration across the UK. He also has a particular interest in understanding the ecosystem service value of seagrass meadows, and has worked extensively on examining the role they play in supporting fisheries.

Talk 15 – Prof. Dr Laurent Barillé and Prof. Dr Pierre Gernez – Nantes Université, France: Remote sensing as a tool to inform seagrass management and restoration best practice.

Prof. Dr Laurent Barillé and Prof. Dr Pierre Gernez are from the RSBE² team at Nantes Université, a department with real expertise in estuarine and coastal ecosystems studies. Their team is internationally recognised for its research in Earth Observation for coastal biodiversity.

As seagrass conservation, protection and restoration continue to grow and develop, the method and analysis their team has developed highlights how important local spatial and temporal information is. 

Talk 16 – Prof. Dr. Gabriele Procaccini – Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Italy: The genetic component of seagrass restoration.

Prof. Dr. Gabriele Procaccini is currently Director of Research at the Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn di Napoli.

Gabriele’s expertise lies in the evolutionary history of populations and species along natural clines and the plasticity of the adaptive response to climate and environmental changes in marine organisms, with a particular focus on marine plants.

Understanding the genetic component of seagrass restoration is criticial in this regards as it enables us to bring solid scientific knowledge from biologists to policymakers in order to define clear restoration actions and delineate priority areas to restore.

Talk 17 – Prof. Dr. Ester A. Serrão – Centro de Ciências do Mar do Algarve (CCMAR), Portugal: Seagrass restoration in Portugal: 2007-2031

Professor at the University of Algarve (Portugal), Pew Marine Fellow Prof. Dr. Ester A. Serrão studies biogeography, evolutionary ecology and conservation, with a focus on marine forests of macroalgae, temperate corals, seagrasses.  Working with collaborators across all oceans, she studies evolutionary processes driving hotspots of rich and unique genetic variability of marine forests globally.

She also created and coordinated EU projects targetting seagrass restoration and conservation, including LIFE-BIOMARES program (ongoing since 2007), RESTORESEAS (ongoing since 2021) and LIFE-RESTORESEAGRASS (since 2024).

Talk 18 – Kirsty Schneeberger MBE – Climate Impact Partners

Unlocking financing for nature restoration

Kirsty has led market-leading work to unlock private finance for early-stage blue carbon projects such as those focussed on seagrass and saltmarsh restoration. Her work has included building a collaboration between Deloitte, the National Oceanography Centre and Project Seagrass and Climate Impact Partners to drive efforts towards securing a seagrass code in the UK.

Her roles as CEO of a biodiversity foundation, and managing philanthropic portfolios more generally, complements her work in the Voluntary Carbon Market raising private finance. Her career spans roles at the UNFCCC (as a political advisor to Christiana Figueres on the Paris Agreement) as well as working with UNDP, UNDESA, and UNEP on Rio+20 stakeholder management and partnerships; as well as policy and advocacy roles for NGOs including WWF.

Talk 19 – Prof. Dr. Lisa Wedding – Oxford Seascape Ecology Lab, UK: Five Ways Seascape Ecology Can Help to Achieve Marine Restoration Goals.

Prof. Dr. Lisa Wedding is Principal Investigator of the Oxford Seascape Ecology Lab which focuses on understanding the social-ecological causes and consequences of spatial patterns and processes in the sea, with the aim of developing science-based solutions to support marine management and policy. The lab is based in the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford. Lisa previously held a Research Associate position at the Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University.

Talk 20 – Prof. Dr. Martin Gullström – Södertörn University, Sweden. Seascape configuration and connectivity shapes blue carbon stock dynamics in coastal seagrass landscapes.

Prof. Dr. Martin Gullström is a Professor of environmental science specialised in marine ecology at the School of Natural Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies, Södertörn University, Sweden. His research concerns seascape ecology, ecological connectivity, coastal blue carbon science, seagrass/mangrove ecology and physiology, food-web ecology, fish and fisheries ecology, social-ecological research, and global climate/environmental changes.

Talk 21 – Prof. Dr. Joanne Preston – University of Portsmouth, UK: – A Collective Vision Of Seascape Restoration.

Prof. Dr. Joanne Preston is based in the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Portsmouth. Her research is focused on the interconnected restoration ecology of coastal habitats, particularly oyster reefs, seagrass and saltmarsh. In 2017 she founded the UK and Ireland Native Oyster Restoration Network in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London. In 2024 she co-authored the Blue Marine Foundation report on ‘Restoring Our Seascapes‘, a report that recommends to UK and devolved governments how to best implement the necessary policy changes to restore fragmented habitats and provide long term protection.

Talk 22 – Dr Guillaume Bernard – Ifremer, France: Seascape Recovery in the Bassin d’Arcachon

The final talk of the 2nd European Seagrass Restoration Workshop will be from Dr Guillaume Bernard of the Ifremer Station Arcachon. Guillaume will present an overview of the temporal evolution of the ecological state of seagrass meadows of the Bassin d’Arcachon, exploring the potential drivers of decline in the system and reflect on the stabilisation of the seagrass extent in recent years.

Talk 23 – Thomas Fauvel – L’Office français de la biodiversité, France: Le plan de gestion 2017-2032 du Parc naturel marin du Bassin d’Arcachon.

The Management Plan (2017 – 2032) of the Parc naturel marin du Bassin d’Arcachon was agreed to by its management board on May 19, 2017, was unanimously approved by the members of the board of directors of the L’Office français de la biodiversité (OFB) on September 27, 2017.

The ‘Plan de gestion’ mainly focuses on the management of the exceptional and shared “common good” of the Bassin d’Arcachon with particular attention paid to the preservation of it’s unique natural resources, and the sustainable development of activities.

Talk 24 – Wietse van der Werf – Sea Ranger Service, The Netherlands: Social inclusion is the biggest gap the restoration movement is not addressing.

Wietse van der Werf is a social entrepreneur, conservationist and author, most recognised for his work combining ocean conservation and social entrepreneurship. He is the Founder and CEO of the Sea Ranger Service, a social enterprise which trains young people as Sea Rangers and deploys special sailing work ships to carry out marine management tasks in direct cooperation with governments. Since 2023 the Sea Ranger Service have been directly involved in seagrass restoration programmes in the Netherlands, UK and France. Wietse was named a European Young Leader in 2020.

Talk 25 – Caroline van Heule (Patagonia) in conversation with Raquel Gaspar (Ocean Alive), Portugal: Madre Mar

The local people have worked the waters of the Sado Estuary Natural Reserve in Portugal for hundreds of years, coexisting with the dolphins, fish and shellfish, supported by the region’s rich seagrass meadows. Ocean Alive is Portugal’s first co-operative dedicated to ocean protection.  

Raquel Gaspar, marine biologist, mother and cofounder and CEO of the Portuguese NGO Ocean Alive, is on a journey to protect and re-meadow Sado’s seagrass habitat. Raquel envisages a thriving ocean protected by coastal communities.