The NATURPORTS project will focus on designing and validating innovative ecological restoration strategies in port environments, applying and adapting Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) and combining restoration and rehabilitation tools, while promoting the ecological functionality of these environments and the provision of ecosystem services. In this way, the initiative focuses on creating synergies between environmental conservation and sustainable port development, highlighting the importance of healthy marine ecosystems for the blue economy.

The project is structured into three specific activities and two cross-cutting activities, each playing a key role in achieving its overall objective and specific objectives: In the conceptualisation and baseline phase, the project undertakes a comprehensive characterisation of demonstration environments and the development of detailed protocols for restoration planning in coastal marine habitats. Subsequently, the stage of demonstration restoration actions focuses on the specific restoration of four key coastal ecosystems: seagrasses, sedimentary bottoms, rocky reefs and barnacle reefs. This phase is characterized by the application of specialized methods and techniques for each type of ecosystem.