From Genoa to Milan, from the Maldives to Dubai:all united to save the mangroves

The mangroves of the Maldives and the United Arab Emirates are at risk of extinction, the Aquarium of Genoa and the Bicocca of Milan are studying how to repopulate them

GENOA – Studying and save mangroves and mangroves in the Maldives and the United Arab Emiratesthe.This is the objective of the international scientific collaboration launched by the Bicocca University of Milan, the Genoa Aquarium, the National University of the Maldives and the University of Dubai.Four institutions that join forces for the protection of ecosystems unique in the world, which provide the vital habitat for numerous marine and terrestrial species, they protect the coasts from erosion, play a key role in mitigating the damage caused by hurricanes and, absorbing large quantities of carbon from the atmosphere, contribute to the fight against climate change.Fragile realities that risk disappearing within a few decades due to infrastructural development, plastic pollution and land reconversion.

The first stage of the study and conservation process, already carried out in 2023, was the mapping and scientific review on the state of health and conservation of the mangrove forests of the Maldives, from which emerged the presence of mangroves in 108 islands out of a total of approximately 1,200 that make up the Maldivian archipelago:Fourteen different species of mangroves have been recorded, including one, the Bruguiera hainesii, in danger of extinction.In nature, we will try to identify the Maldivian islands that hold the last unexplored mangrove forests.Also in the Maldives, particular attention will be given to the sstudy of the presence of micro and nano plastics.With the aim of extending the project to the mangroves of the Arab Emirates, the rise in sea levels will also be estimated, which puts the mangroves themselves at risk.

At the Genoa Aquarium, in collaboration with the Bicocca University of Milan, a dedicated area has just been opened with a tank that reproduces a small portion of mangrove, cultivated by the facility's biologists.Here, public dissemination and awareness-raising activities will be carried out, as well as scientific research focused on the possibility of extracting new biomolecules from mangroves for cosmetic or pharmaceutical applications, on cultivation in a controlled environment for the nourishment of existing mangrove forests, on the evaluation of the health status of mangrove forests through the analysis of volatile compounds released by plants.

The multidisciplinary project is made possible by the presence in the Maldives of the MaRHE Center, an Italian center of excellence directed by Paolo Galli:“Since 2009 - he explains - we have carried out research in various fields of marine ecology, including study of coral reefs and their restoration and the study of the seabed by geologists, hosting hundreds of researchers including from MIT and Cambridge University".Silvia Lavorano, general curator of Costa Edutainment, the company that manages the Genoa Aquarium, says she is "happy to enrich the collaboration with the University of Milan-Bicocca which already sees us working together for the protection, conservation and research on tropical corals, thanks to the Genoese branch of the MaRHE Center, at the Aquarium.With this type of collaborations we increasingly strengthen the role of the Aquarium as a privileged observatory of nature and a laboratory for study and research which allows the development, in a controlled environment, of new fundamental knowledge to protect the natural heritage".