We urgently need to prepare for the impacts of the triple ecological crisis on the Wadden Sea salt ecosystem. In SALTGARDEN we will promote biodiverse, dynamic salt marshes to enable resilient coastal landscapes in the Wadden Sea. Current foreshore management concepts overlook the inherent dynamics of salt marshes and lack the opportunity to exploit their natural resilience. Concurrently, the impacts of the triple crisis are expected to lead to a shift in plant species composition. We assume that biodiverse salt marshes can contribute to improving ecosystem services at all levels, and can sustain the functionality of coastal systems towards the future. Thus, different plant communities and successional stages will be tested in mesocosm living labs for their vulnerability, resilience and ecosystem services under the influence of different triple crisis stressors (SALTlab). Numerical model predictions and remote sensing observations will be coupled with socio-economic assessments to predict future changes in the functionality and persistence of dynamic coastal landscapes (SALTlandscape). Together with stakeholders, we will co-create Nature-based Gardening strategies to promote dynamic salt marshes, to enable adaptive coastal landscapes and to consolidate this new paradigm at the political level (SALTimpact). Since this approach will involve transdisciplinary teams in all project stages, this project goes one step further than previous approaches to restoration. The project adopts the principles of Nature-based Gardening to showcase the value of diverse and dynamic foreshore ecosystems and to promote nature-based implementations to gain societal support for resilient coastal systems: the ‘SALTGARDENs’.
