Seagrass beds for coastal protection and mitigation of climate change impact

UGent and the Portuguese maritime institute CCMAR receive a VLAIO Baekeland grant for research into the sustainable protection of vulnerable coastal areas. Ghent University receives a VLAIO Baekeland grant with support and cooperation from Jan De Nul Group, DEME Group, and the Portuguese marine institute CCMAR for its doctoral study 'PLANT ME'. This research into the sustainable protection of vulnerable coastal areas aims at using seagrasses. The presence of seagrass is decreasing worldwide due to poor water quality, plant diseases, climate change and coastal erosion. With the innovation project 'PLANT ME', the research team wants to enable the restoration of this ecosystem by developing a new planting technique for seagrass. The research partners combine their expertise as researchers and hydraulic engineers to boost the planet's biodiversity. The partners also work together in the Coastbusters project, a research project on a nature-based type of coastal defence.