Recognising seaweeds: addressing gaps in international biodiversity frameworks for global seaweed conservation

As anthropogenic pressures increasingly impact marine ecosystems and the biodiversity they support, governance mechanismsfor international biodiversity conservation have emerged. Seaweed habitats are important repositories for marine biodiversity,and they provide crucial ecosystem services that support both ocean and human health. Despite their ecological significance,seaweeds have been overlooked in global conservation discourse compared to other marine habitats. This study provides a the-matic analysis of 18 international biodiversity frameworks to assess the representation of seaweeds and explores ways to betterintegrate them into policies. Key obstacles preventing full integration include imperfect institutional coordination, inconsistentseaweed-related terminology use, limited representation within biodiversity targets and the absence of legally binding agree-ments with enforcement mechanisms. To address these, the study provides recommendations to improve the integration of sea-weeds into biodiversity frameworks, thereby supporting broader marine ecosystem resilience. Improved seaweed representationand conservation will contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life below water).