Marine Forests, important habitats worldwide

Macroalgae, plants and animals like corals and sponges create complex habitats that provide resources, shelter and nursery grounds for many marine organisms.

Macroalgae forests

Large brown algae such as kelp or fucoids, but also by red and green algae (© D. Klug).

Seagrass meadows

Plants that evolved to live in the sea. With roots, leafs, flowers and fruits (© M. Sanfelix).

Animal gardens

Invertebrates that live attached to rock, such as coral reefs and gorgonians (© NOAA).

Help the world monitoring Marine Forests

Citizens are reporting the occurrence of seaweed, seagrass, corals, and other forest-forming species to reach worldwide maps with distribution records.

records of species reported by citizen scientists.

You can also add records using iNaturalist. Just provide a photo, the date and location, no need to identify the species. The information will be available for everyone in the world! Explore all records Add your records

Recent records from citizens

Project Marine Forests

Project 'Marine Forests' aims to build and maintain a database of distribution records of structural benthic species of seaweeds, seagrasses and animal forests, at global scales, and to make this information freely available worldwide (© Scottish Natural Heritage).

It also promotes education, marine literacy and the FAIR principle (to make data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable).

Why Marine Forests?

Many animals live in marine forests and use them to hunt or mate.
Young animals also use marine forests as nursery grounds.
Image
Image

Scientific team

The team of the project is composed by scientists and volunteer citizens from all around the world, which are contributing to expand knowlege about the diversity and distribution of Marine Forests.

Adopt a Marine Forests!

Encourage conservation, understanding and appreciation of local marine environments by adopting a marine forest.