Baixo Vouga Lagunar, Ria de Aveiro (Portugal)

The University of Aveiro in close collaboration with local authorities, research bodies and socio-economic actors established the Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTsER) Platform, a permanent structure to enhance management and understanding of interactions at the dynamic socio ecological system of Baixo Vouga Lagunar.

Over the last decade, the research projects carried out under the LTsER Ria de Aveiro platform have been transdisciplinary in nature, involving the active participation of key players, not only from the region but also from organisations at the national level, to co-develop adaptive management scenarios using GIS-based models.

In addition, the participatory workshop organised in the scope of RESTORE4Cs offered stakeholders the possibility to discuss options to mitigate the impact of declining salt marshes by restoring seagrass meadows, which ultimately contributes to stabilise
the sediment. Exchanges considered the economic viability of different options that ranged from engineering solutions to artificially elevate the salt marshes to the restoration of seagrass to the lack of action to assume transformation into mudflats. Moreover, the workshop supported a discussion of potential areas to replicate ongoing restoration efforts.