During this secondment, we met Prof. Malick Diouf from UCAD and Prof. Amadou Gaye to ensure we sampled according to Senegalese rules. We presented the research undertaken in the Mangrove Ecology Group at ZMT during a seminar within the framework of PADDLE, for the students of UCAD. We carried out field studies in Sine Saloum (between Palmarin and Foundiougne) to study the microbial and faunal drivers of sediment processes in the context of organic matter turnover along the salinity gradient of the Sine Saloum estuary, as a scientific fundament for knowledge based decision making in Marine Spatial Planning (MSP).