SEASTRONG
Stronger Together: The Role of Connectivity in Safeguarding Functioning Coastal Ecosystems under Global Change
Connecting ecosystems, knowledge, and people for climate-resilient tropical coasts
SEASTRONG is an international Horizon Europe research project investigating how mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, and coral reefs are connected – and how these connections can support more effective conservation, restoration, and coastal management under climate change.
Coordinated by the University of Bremen and the Leibniz Centre for Marine Tropical Research (ZMT), the project brings together 15 partner organisations working across natural sciences, social sciences, ecological modelling, conservation, and restoration.
Why connectivity matters
Mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, and coral reefs are often studied, managed, and restored separately. In nature, however, they form interconnected coastal seascapes.
Water movements, microorganisms, fish, invertebrates, seabirds, nutrients, and organic matter create links between these ecosystems. Together, they support biodiversity, fisheries, coastal protection, carbon storage, and the wellbeing and livelihoods of coastal communities.
Damage to one ecosystem may therefore affect the functioning and resilience of neighbouring habitats. SEASTRONG will investigate these relationships and translate the resulting knowledge into practical and locally appropriate approaches for conservation and restoration.
SEASTRONG investigates how connectivity, conservation, restoration, and climate change shape tropical coastal ecosystems and the benefits they provide to people.
What SEASTRONG will do
The project will:
map mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, coral reefs, and the connections between them;
measure how water, microorganisms, animals, carbon, and nutrients link coastal ecosystems;
examine how local communities depend on, value, understand, and govern these ecosystems;
assess restoration approaches and the thermal tolerance of organisms used in restoration;
develop ecological, trait-based, and hydrodynamic models;
investigate how ocean warming, marine heatwaves, and sea-level rise may affect coastal seascapes;
co-develop climate-smart conservation and restoration strategies with local partners and stakeholders.
![[Translate to English:] Schaubild Ökologie](/fileadmin/_processed_/7/0/csm_Ecollgical_Knowledge_7075351f08.jpg)
Project at a glance
Funding programme: Horizon Europe
EU funding: €6 million
Project duration: 54 months
Project period: September 2026 – February 2031
Evaluation score: 15 out of 15 points
Coordinating institution: University of Bremen
Project coordinators: Professor Christian Wild and Dr. Sonia Bejarano
Study regions: Belize, Fiji, and Seychelles
Consortium: 15 partner organisations from nine countries
Consortium
SEASTRONG brings together the following partner institutions:
University of Bremen, Germany - https://www.uni-bremen.de/
Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research, Germany - https://leibniz-zmt.de/de/
Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy - https://www.unive.it/web/en/497/home
École Pratique des Hautes Études, France - https://www.ephe.psl.eu/ [YE1]
Edinburgh Napier University, United Kingdom - https://www.napier.ac.uk/
IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Netherlands - https://www.un-ihe.org/
Lancaster University, United Kingdom - https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Italy - https://szn.it/index.php/en/
University of Almería, Spain - https://www.ual.es/en
Healthy Reefs for Healthy People, Belize - https://www.healthyreefs.org/en
Toledo Institute for Development and Environment, Belize - https://tidebelize.org/
Talanoa Consulting, Fiji - https://www.talanoa-consulting-fiji.com/
University of the South Pacific, Fiji - https://www.usp.ac.fj/
Seychelles Islands Foundation, Seychelles - https://www.sif.sc/
Seychelles Parks and Gardens Authority, Seychelles - https://www.spga.gov.sc/