Ecosystem Conservation of Offshore Wetlands and Coastline: Seagrass Beds and the Ecosystems They Support

Room Room 3

Day and time 12.11.2022 13:15

Lead organization

China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation

Partner organization(s)

IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group IUCN Seagrass Specialist Group IUCN's CEESP International Engineering and Technology Institute Lijiang Teachers College Hubei Chibi Lushui Lake National Wetland Park Andean Road Countries for Science a

Details

In the side event, we will discuss the topics related to the ecosystem conservation of offshore wetlands and coastal based on the case of seagrass beds and the ecosystems they support. Seagrasses are one of the most productive ecosystems in the world but they often receive little attention.Seagrasses are ecosystem engineers because they modify their environments to create unique habitats. These modifications not only make coastal habitats more suitable for the seagrasses themselves, but also have important effects on other animals and provide ecological functions and a variety of services for humans.Seagrasses provide shelter and food to an incredibly diverse community of animals, from tiny invertebrates to large fish, crabs, turtles, marine mammals and birds. Seagrasses provide many important services to people as well, but many seagrasses’ meadows have been lost because of human activities. Seagrasses have been used to fertilize fields, insulate houses, weave furniture, thatch roofs, make bandages.But it's what they do in their native habitat that has the biggest benefits for humans and the ocean. Seagrasses are in trouble and seagrass losses are projected to have severe impacts on marine biodiversity, the health of other marine ecosystems, and on human livelihoods. More Work need to be done around the world to restore these important ecosystems.The aim of our side event is to call attention on Ecosystem Conservation of Offshore Wetlands and coastline, to promote the management that protects seagrasses focusing on maintaining their biodiversity and the services these habitats provide for ecosystems, and to create opportunities to rebuild and restore seagrass beds.The envisaged outcome is a declaration on the protection and restoration of offshore wetlands. 

Program

The moderators are: John E L Scanlon AO, Chief Executive Officer of the EPI Foundation and Ms. Yingjia Xiao. Potential speaker are: Amy Fraenkel, Executive Secretary Convention on Migratory Species;Brooke K Sullivan, chair of IUCN Seagrass Specialist Group;Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias，chair of BirdLife International;Iben Munck, the Executive Officer for IUCN's CEESP;Michael James Crabbe, chair of International Engineering and Technology Institute;Jinfeng Zhou, Secretary-General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation; Hong Chen，Director and associate researcher of Hainan SCS Institute of Tropical Ocean, Director of CBCGDF South China Sea Coral Reserve