Seaweed Conservation
Team Leader: Professor Juliet Brodie (NHM)
Our Key Questions:
Q1. What are the current seaweed-related conservation designations in key seaweed producing countries (i.e., countries predominantly in the Global South), and can any lessons be learned from other initiatives for ecologically and economically crucially important marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs and mangroves?
Q2. What are the critical knowledge gaps that needs to be addressed to develop a global seaweed conservation strategy (Seaweed Breakthrough)?
Q3. How can we balance the need to conserve habitats and wild seaweeds with the quest to find new cultivars and to manage the sustainable use of seaweed resources globally?
Climate Resilient Seaweeds
Team Leader: Professor Phaik Eem Lim (UM)
Our Key Questions:
Q1: How well do seaweed strains respond to acclimation studies?
Q2: How well adapted to local conditions are indigenous wild seaweeds and can they be used as new culture strains for the seaweed industry and for restoration/enhancement programmes in areas, such as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)?
Seaweed Resource Management
Team Leader: Professor Elizabeth Cottier-Cook (SAMS)
Our Key Questions:
Q1: What are the important gaps in legislative frameworks and policies that needs to be addressed to support the protection and enhancement of climate resilience and biodiversity in wild seaweed populations?
Q2: What is the current knowledge, attitude and practices of the seaweed farmers and indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) of existing management and conservation practices for wild seaweed populations?
Q3: How effective are innovative seaweed management practices in terms enhancing biodiversity?
Q4: How scalable/replicable, socially acceptable and economically viable are the potential new management practices?