The Republic of Cabo Verde is an African archipelago, which depends largely on marine resources. Their coastal areas ensure human wellbeing through resources availability (e.g. food) and jobs. However, coastal regions in Cabo Verde are highly exposed to natural hazards and to multiple pressures associated with anthropogenic activities, including reclamation of wetlands for agriculture, water contamination and plastic pollution. They are, thus in an enormous need for sustainable development of activity sectors linked to the sea, i.e. Blue Growth. Cabo Verde is a country where Blue Growth can help to contribute with solutions for current issues, such as high poverty rates, while building on the long tradition of local economical use of the marine environment. However, no valuable baseline knowledge on the environmental status of their marine ecosystems is available, hampering the development of measures ensuring their sustainable use, management, conservation and restoration. Information on marine habitats is scarce and there is no integrated evaluation of marine resources to support knowledge-based regulations and guidelines for their sustainable use, in line with the national development trends. Santo Antão has the highest poverty rate of the Archipelago and income inequalities and is highly vulnerable to extreme natural phenomena. The COAST project will significantly contribute to understanding the status and functioning of the ocean system around Santo Antão island in Cabo Verde, as its contribution to the country’s economy. The project aims to achieve 5 main objectives: a) to characterize and map pelagic and benthic habitats, as well as anthropogenic pressures of Santo Antão, b) to estimate patterns of diversity in marine communities in relation to habitat features, c) to assess the vulnerability of the studied communities to both environmental and anthropogenic pressures, through the application of risk assessment models, d) to implement conservation and restoration actions for selected habitats/ecosystems based on the results of the first three objectives, e) to provide baseline data that inform policymakers, authorities, institutions and practitioners towards effective marine conservation and restoration in these habitats and demonstrate the repeatability of the proposed approach in other regions. Dedicated scientific surveys will be conducted to collect data from the marine ecosystems around Santo Antão under a transdisciplinary and integrated framework, with a specific focus on selected areas of interest. We will apply state-of-the-art technology, combining visual and acoustic observations with physical sampling, modelling and remote sensing. COAST expects to improve current knowledge on marine habitats of Santo Antão island and to provide efficient management recommendations for their sustainable development, along with mitigation plans for the effects of global changes, in line with the needs of stakeholders and local communities.

This project analyses the economic impact and technological aspect related to the agri-food sector of the utilization of biodegradable active packaging in the commercialization of Mediterranean fresh products. When the objective is to reach a more extensive market with a fair price, one of the critical points in the process production is the selection of the most appropriated packaging method. In these cases, the profitability of the process is clearly affected by the shelf-life of the product. In this sense, there is a trend in the search of the named active packaging in order to increase the shelf-life of fresh products. There are different kinds of active packaging. One of the most promising alternatives is the packaging produced adding an active substance. These compounds could have different functional properties including the capacity to minimize the oxidation and microbiological degradation of fresh food during storage. The result is a significant increase in the shelf-life of the packaged food. In this project, the addition of natural extracts obtained from agricultural by-products as active substances is proposed. The result will be an increase in the added value of these wastes, thus promoting a circle economy, which increases the profitability of the overall process. By other side, the directives of EU indicate that it is necessary to replace plastic packaging with biodegradable substitutes. In this sense, this project proposes the use of these biodegradable plastics in order to increase the quality of the package elaborated and to decrease the environmental impact of the use of conventional plastics. In the Im-Pack project, the application of a new technology using supercritical fluids to generate the active packaging is proposed. This technology has been proved in conventional plastics with excellent results, increasing the self-life of the fresh food in several days, and then, the capacity of exportation of agri-food companies. The project is focused on the development of innovative solutions that increase the competitiveness of the small and medium farmers by implementing new biodegradable active packaging suitable for the commercialization of their Mediterranean fresh food. These packaged, are adapted to the new European regulations regarding the use of biodegradable packaging, and intended to increase the shelf-life of fresh food products. With the proposed packaging, the agro-food companies can reach new markets and decrease food losses due to product expiration. The main expected result is an increase in the profit of all the stakeholders, including farmers, small-scale food manufacturers and local distributors. The introduction of this packaging in the agro-food supply chain provides a local and distinguished benefit, economically, environmentally and socially to smallholders. Finally, this benefit will result in a fair price for consumers. So, the Im-Pack project is integrated into the concept of circular economy in order to apply the profitability of active packaging produced from agricultural by-products, obtained and impregnated by a sustainable technique. The utilization of biodegradable plastics and the valorisation of agricultural by-products as source of interesting bioactive compounds minimize waste generation. In addition, the production of active packaging that increases the shelf-life of fresh food products reduces organic waste from expired food. In the Im-Pack project participates research groups from Algeria, France, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and Tunisia. These countries have an important role in the agro-food sector of the European Union and north of Africa. This project has been presented in a previous PRIMA call and was successful in the first stage. In this proposal, the considerations made by the evaluation committee have been considered and 3 new research groups and 2 companies have been incorporated in order to increase the impact of the proposal.

Agricultural soils are depleted in organic carbon (OC) and have the potential to sequester substantial amounts of C, contributing to climate change mitigation. An increase in soil organic carbon (SOC) has additional bene?ts, including improvements in soil fertility, water retention and texture, which supports crop productivity and biodiversity. Restoring and maintaining SOC can be achieved by adopting management practices which increase C sequestration and stabilize C in the soil matrix. Common management practices for increasing SOC include the use of external or internally recycled OC inputs (e.g., organic amendments/fertilizers, biochar, plant litter, residues), alternative cropping options (e.g., continuous green cover, cover crops) or measures that reduce OC losses (e.g., reduced tillage, adapted grazing). Conversely, these management practices have the potential to increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by stimulating decomposition of previously sequestered C and N increasing CO2 and N2O emissions. Mechanisms and drivers behind increased GHG emissions and their interactions with OC sequestration under di?erent soil and climatic conditions are not well constrained, partly because little is known about how abiotic and biotic factors control the extent to which soils can store OC. Quantifying negative side-e?ects of increased soil C sequestration on GHG emissions is necessary to develop appropriate management options that reduce GHGs while increasing soil C stocks. The main goal of TRUESOIL is to assess how GHG emissions from agricultural production systems are in?uenced by varying OC inputs for contrasting soil types and climates (i.e. boreal, temperate, Mediterranean and semi-oceanic). We will elucidate the roles of di?erent abiotic and biotic factors in OC storage and the extent to which these factors impact on GHG emissions, in particular N2O, given its high warming potential and large uncertainty in ?ux estimates. Many C-augmenting management interventions are known, or have the potential, to modify soil N cycling leading to enhanced N2O emissions. To understand potential trade-o?s between OC storage and GHG emissions, we combine intensive measurements of GHG ?uxes with carbon-nitrogen cycling studies and microbiological analyses. Comparison of soils that are SOC saturated with those that continue to accumulate SOC will aid in the identi?cation of the major drivers. Using rainfall exclusion experiments, we will also examine the future impact of reductions in precipitation on interactions between SOC accumulation and GHG emissions. TRUESOIL will establish a data repository of past and ongoing research on management-climate interrelationships between GHG emissions and soil SOC sequestration; it will also provide information on the factors likely to in?uence trade-o?s between SOC sequestration and GHG ?uxes, including pedoclimatic conditions, management interventions, soil microbial community composition and C/N budgets (WP1). The repository will serve as basis for overall project activities; examine the impacts of rainfall exclusion on SOC sequestration and GHG emissions (WP2); investigate the role of microbial communities in SOC sequestration and N2O emissions (WP3); and use modelling studies to examine C-N interactions and tradeo?s to identify management options that can maximize SOC sequestration whilst minimizing impacts on soil GHG emissions (WP4). TRUESOIL will then synthesize the scienti?c outcomes and translate them to climate-smart management practices (WP5) which will be disseminated and communicated among the scienti?c community, stakeholders and the general public (WP6). This project will lead to an increased understanding of how environmental factors and management control OC sequestration, SOC persistence and stabilization and how this is linked to GHG emissions, opening up new possibilities for soil-speci?c and climate mitigation strategies.