Human activities are having increasingly negative impacts on the natural environment. The rapidly expanding human population has led to a shortage of resources and the ability to support the growing population sustainably is a major challenge for the future. Coastal environments, including natural seaweed communities, provide a range of important ecosystem services. Since seaweed aquaculture beds (SABs) provide many of the services associated with natural seaweed communities they have a potential role in providing solutions such as CO₂ sequestration, provision of food and the supply of useful chemicals. However, the productivity of natural seaweed communities and SABs is under threat from the rapid changes in climate that the planet is experiencing. Here we examine the likely effects of global change, in particular elevated CO₂ and ocean acidification, increased temperatures and elevated levels of UVB, on the performance of seaweeds. While it is clear that rising temperatures and elevated CO₂ and their interactions with other environmental factors are likely to have profound effects on macroalgal production, such effects are likely to be species dependent. We also examine the fate of organic matter from seaweeds and the potential for using SAB productivity as a contributor to blue carbon as a strategy for amelioration of increases in anthropogenic CO₂ emissions. There is considerable potential for increased drawdown of CO₂ by SABs, though its effectiveness in amelioration of atmospheric CO₂ increase will depend on the fate of the resulting biomass.

Indonesia is the world largest producer of the red seaweeds Kappaphycus and Eucheuma; however, this country is facing significant challenges such as disease outbreaks, epiphyte infestations and a loss in seedling quality. Biosecurity practices have been widely adopted in other aquaculture sectors and when enforced can help to limit the introduction and spread of diseases and pests. To assess current capacity for biosecurity in seaweed aquaculture in Indonesia, a systematic analysis of policy frameworks including legislation, regulatory tools, and national standards was conducted. Biosecurity themes and risks were used to evaluate current national biosecurity content. The results identified major challenges faced by the industry in order to implement biosecurity policies in practice. Barriers to implementation included unspecific reference to the seaweed aquaculture sector, limited variety of approaches to biosecurity, limited use of up-to-date scientific evidence, insufficient guidance for the use of precaution and insufficient inclusion of specific biosecurity hazards. In general, although national regulations are currently under revision, current policies indicate a lack of clarity where biosecurity is included. Six recommendations are suggested to incorporate proactive biosecurity actions into current frameworks, with the aim of improving the health and sustainability of the seaweed aquaculture sector in Indonesia.

Seagrasses offer diverse ecosystem services, yet, they are among the most threatened ecosystems. When degraded or destroyed, their services are lost or reduced in the process, affecting, for instance, local communities directly dependent on their livelihood provision. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that climate change is projected to worsen over time; thus, there is an urgent need for mitigation strategies in practice and also in the longer term. This work aims to provide an alternative perspective of seagrass restoration as a nature based solution (NbS) on a global scale, yet, giving an emphasis on tropical regions such as Indonesia. We focused on seagrass restorations which are not yet well established in comparison with other restoration programs (e.g., mangroves) despite their critical roles. We present in this work how restoring seagrass meadows fits the global standard of NbS published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The results of this study can serve as a basis for promoting seagrass restorations as NbS against climate change particularly in countries with a wide extent of seagrass coverage.