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Beneath the waves, vast forests of corals, sponges, and gorgonians form complex habitats that serve as the ocean's engine rooms. They shelter marine life, support fisheries, and sequester carbon. But we are losing them. A new Manifesto from scientists of the MAF WORLD COST action, led by Dr Sergio Rossi, reveals they are being destroyed by bottom trawling, pollution, and climate change. He says, “We are losing an ally, the one that helps to regulate much of the seafloor processes and functioning.”