MAF WORLD

Protecting global marine animal forests

Protecting global marine animal forests

Science Letters publishes the kick-off of the Marine Animal Forest (megabenthic structures mainly composed of suspension-feeding organisms) networking Action, highlighting the importance of the connection of more than 150 researchers from around the globe to understand and solve the problems that such a worldwide set of habitats face nowadays. This transdisciplinary group of scientists come together to advance and fill existing gaps for the conservation, management, and restoration of these precious, important but widely unknown ecosystems.

The Action, funded by the COST Association for European Cooperation in Science and Technology, will work in producing a MANIFESTO and baseline reference knowledge together with practical tools for the conservation of these benthic habitats, following the challenge of the UN Ocean’s Decade: “The Science We Need for the Ocean We Want”.

More info about the project: www.maf-world.eu
Science letters: www.science.org

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Latest Updates

Our Action has been selected and invited to this unique event of experts for the UN Science Summit, organised by the European COST Assocaition and the National Science Foundation (NSF) in New York.
On 25-27th September 2023, SEA-UNICORN COST Action organises a Case Study Workshop on “Marine functional connectivity (MFC) and ecological coherence between the protected areas of the Adriatic and eastern Mediterranean”.
The upcoming edition will be led by Dr. Davide Seveso (University Milano-Bicocca), Prof. Giovanni Strona (Joint Research Center, European Commission, Ispra, Italy) and Prof. Valeriano Parravicini (Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes and CRIOBE, Perpignan, France).
It has been a great beginning for our MAF-WORLD COST Action. After a successful year, we are ready for the second, with some exciting COST Action activity set. 
Branching MAFs are the key building units in marine ecosystems, including the coral reefs. Branching corals exhibit taxon-specific canopy structures and are crowned by morphometric modifications within their canopies, habitats that are under the control of biological and environmental drivers