Key area Asian estuaries and coasts
In Asia intensified economic activities and high population densities have gone hand in hand with major degradation and loss of valuable ecosystems.
Nurseries for commercially important species. Biodiversity. Eco-tourism. Seafood. The intake and storage of greenhouse gas CO2. Robust coastlines and flood defense. These are a number of the vital services provided by healthy estuarine and coastal ecosystems like mangroves, seagrass meadows and coral reefs.
Dealing with the threats to estuaries and coastlines, requires a clever mixture of measures to maintain existing ecosystems, mitigate threats and restore lost ecosystems. To succeed, management measures must be based on fundamental understanding of the processes affecting these ecosystems.
For several decades now, NIOZ has been involved in Asia projects collaborating with partners in China, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. Most notably on
Visit the Wadden & Delta Research Centre for expertise on nature based flood defences of Asian coasts and movement ecology on long-distant migratory birds.
NIOZ is part of the institutes organisation of NWO