The OCEAN CITIZEN project was born from the need to unite the scientific-academic world, the business world, public administrations and the general population, to work in a joint and coordinated way, with the aim of restoring our Ocean, and achieve a sustainable development of our society. Through this approach, the project responds to the different European and national policies that highlight the need to find alternatives that allow the development of the economy and society, understanding and respecting the limitations and needs of natural systems and their resources. Recently, the UN declared (Resolution 73/284) the years 2021-2030 as the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration. Considering the importance of the Ocean in this decade, both the EU and the UN claimed the role of 70% of the planet's surface as essential to redress the global environmental situation.
Additionally, the UNEP report underlines the importance of the Blue Carbon ecosystem. Marine Forests (MF) are by far the most prominent living, benthic, three-dimensional structures in the Ocean. These range from tropical to polar latitudes, and from shallow to deep waters. MFs, which are functionally similar to terrestrial forests, are composed of a wide range of diverse organisms, such as marine algae, marine phanerogams, sponges, cnidarians, bryozoans, ascidians, bivalves, and other animals. Among these MFs, Marine Animal Forests (MAFs) create ecosystems such as coral reefs, cold-water coral banks, oyster reefs, sponge grounds, and coralligenous. Science is beginning to understand the role of MFs as promoters of biodiversity and biomass and, also, as carbon immobilizers. Despite their importance, there are no efficient restoration strategies that guarantee the sustainability of the marine resources they generate.
OCEAN CITIZEN focuses on MF regeneration with a novel approach that guarantees the operation of the MF conservation and restoration plan for decades, thanks to the incorporation of a self-financing business plan, which is based on a regenerative park for awareness, education and science, where access is on a fee-paying basis. The project is focused on Punta Blanca (Tenerife, Spain) where all restoration approaches will be implemented on a larger scale. Additionally, replication is carried out in Tarragona (Spain), Sønderborg (Denmark), Eilat (Israel) and Porsangerfjorden (Norway).
