Blog | Project Seagrass

Map of the Solent. Credit Angela Harding

Songs from the Solent: New album by Richard Walters celebrates local community, culture, and the fight to restore coastal nature

January 19, 2026

Grammy-nominated singer and Solent Seascape Project collaborate with Jeremy Irons and Angela Harding to celebrate and protect the region’s coastal habitats. The Solent Seascape Project, of which Project Seagrass is a partner, has launched Songs from the Solent, a new EP by Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Richard Walters that uses music to spotlight the Solent’s threatened coastal habitats

Illustration of a seagrass meadow with a seahorse and a canada goose.

The forgotten meadows of Northern Ireland

January 13, 2026

Grace Cutler, one of our 2025-26 Project Seagrass interns, reflects on Rebekah Bajkó’s research, Coastal Roots: The History of Seagrass in Northern Ireland. Northern Irish Seagrass In November 2025, I attended the UK Seagrass Symposium, an exciting conference hosted every two years to highlight the current state of seagrass research

A subtidal Neptune grass meadow grows of the coast of Greece

How the Seagrass Essential Ocean Variable can support more effective monitoring and management

January 13, 2026

Current estimates of the global extent of seagrass range from between 160,000-266,000km. Such a high degree of uncertainty presents challenges for researchers and managers and their ability to make informed decisions which account for the changing status of seagrass ecosystems. Key to improving our understanding of seagrass presence and absence,

Drone controller being used next to kelp bed

Accelerate Seagrass Drone Survey

January 7, 2026

Accelerate Seagrass is a collaborative program being delivered by Climate Impact Partners, Deloitte, Project Seagrass, and the National Oceanography Centre which aims to support groundbreaking research into seagrass carbon sequestration and unlock long-term finance to save and reinstate vital seagrass meadows. Part of this programme of work includes mapping to record the presence and extent of

Ben stands in front of an audience at the IUCN World Conservation Congress.

Reflections from the IUCN World Conservation Congress: From Knowledge Exchange to Implementation

December 16, 2025

Chief Conservation Officer Dr Benjamin Jones reflects on the IUCN World Conservation Congress: The IUCN World Conservation Congress is, at its core, about knowledge exchange. Experiencing it first-hand made clear just how ambitious and wide-ranging that exchange has become. Across the week, the Congress unfolded through a programme of workshops,

The Use of Seagrass in Flood Defences and Reducing Beach Erosion

December 15, 2025

Ewan Garvey, one of Project Seagrass’ Interns for the 2025-26 academic year, explores how seagrass can provide protection for coastal communities. As the seasons transition from autumn into winter, storms often become a pressing concern for coastal communities. In recent years, the growing impacts of climate change have become increasingly

Underneath the surface of the water is a dense seagrass meadow

Passive vs Active Marine Restoration: Why Both Are Crucial for Ocean Health

December 15, 2025

Jasper Brown, one of Project Seagrass’ Interns for the 2025-26 academic year and 3rd Year Student in BSc Zoology with Marine Zoology at Bangor University, explores the need for both active and passive restoration to secure a future for our important seagrass habitats. Marine ecosystems worldwide are under threat. Rising

End of year reflections from our 2025-26 interns

December 11, 2025

In September 2025, Project Segrass welcomed Anya, Dylan, Will, Grace, Iestyn, Jasper, and Ewan as our interns for the 2025-26 academic year. In this Q&A our interns share their experiences and highlights from their first three months as interns with Project Seagrass. What have been the highlights from your internship

Dr. Benjamin Jones Wins Inaugural Bonefish and Tarpon Trust Davidson Science Award

December 10, 2025

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust have selected Project Seagrass’ Chief Conservation Officer and Co-Founder Dr. Benjamin Jones as the recipient of the inaugural Davidson Science Award. The award has been established to recognize transformative scientific contributions to flats conservation, coastal inshore waters utilized by anglers which are dominated by seagrass meadows.

Sea snails – Creatures that call seagrass home

December 10, 2025

In a new blog series, our Conservation Trainee Abi David explores some of the amazing creatures that call seagrass meadows their home. Sea snails are a hugely diverse group of marine gastropod found in all over the world. There is such a vast range of different colours, sizes, diets and

A species of seagrass; Zostera marina. Credit Ben Jones

monitoring

‘Protected’ seagrass meadows aren’t necessarily healthy – because pollution doesn’t stop at the shoreline

Heidi McIlvenny, PhD researcher from Queen’s University Belfast, comments on seagrass meadows in Northern Ireland and how seagrass meadows can recover but only if we tackle the pollution at its source. I spent last summer wading through seagrass meadows across Northern Ireland, from the sheltered waters of Strangford Lough to

April 15, 2026

solent seascape project

Fieldwork notes from our Solent planting

Between the 17th and 23rd March 2026, members of the Project Seagrass team were on the Isle of Wight carrying out active restoration as part of the The Solent Seascape Project, the first project of its kind in the UK to initiate seascape-scale restoration. As part of The Solent Seascape

April 9, 2026

Juvenile señorita (Oxyjulis californica) utilize the protective canopy of the open-coast seagrass restoration site at Button Shell, Catalina Island.

new science

Catalina Island study highlights open-coast seagrass restoration success

New research led by scientists at University of California’s San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography is shining a spotlight on one of the ocean’s most overlooked habitats: seagrass. Led by Scripps Oceanography Ph.D. candidate Rilee Sanders, the study documented the first successful restoration of open-coast seagrass (common eelgrass). The findings offer

April 9, 2026

fisheries

Seagrass, fishing, and mental health: the hidden connection beneath the surface

Nursery intern Iestyn Comey details how fishing in seagrass meadows can be great to improve mental health and are vital nursery grounds for key fisheries species. Fishing is a hard thing to explain to someone who has never done it. There is no better feeling than the moment the line

March 4, 2026

Beneath the surface a dense seagrass meadow is growing.

conservation

Six Global Challenges: One Powerful Solution. Project Seagrass launches Global Seagrass Challenge Fund to save the world’s seagrass.

Now seeking investment, the Global Seagrass Challenge Fund will unite funders, businesses, and individuals committed to securing a future for seagrass. With an ambitious target of £50 million, the Fund will support people-centred seagrass conservation for a healthier ocean and a fairer future. Project Seagrass has launched the Global Seagrass

March 1, 2026

A group of volunteers snorkel in a seagrass meadow in Porthdinllaen in North Wales.

new science

Seagrass meadows could be good for your health – yet they’re disappearing fast

The wellbeing benefits of nature are often linked to forests or habitats that support diverse pollinators. Spending time in green spaces reduces stress and anxiety, for example. By contrast, the benefits of the ocean are more commonly associated with fishing, exciting creatures such as whales and dolphins, or adventure watersports, rather than

February 19, 2026

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