Keeping you up to date with Project Seagrass news and views with a mixture of field notes and commentary on seagrass and marine conservation topics.
Seagrass meadows provide a range of environmental, economic, and social benefits to people and planet. They provide habitat, food, and shelter to thousands of species of fish, invertebrates, mammals, reptiles, and birds. Through their diverse use as fishing grounds, they support the creation of jobs and provide access to food sources
Researchers predict that climate change will drive a substantial redistribution of brown seaweeds and seagrasses at the global scale. The projected changes are alarming due to the fundamental role of seaweeds and seagrasses in coastal ecosystems, and provide evidence of the pervasive impacts of climate change on marine life. In
Restoration Forth aims to restore seagrass meadows and native oysters into the Firth of Forth, to create a healthier coastline for people and nature. Find out more about the project here. Orkney seagrass trip Next month the seagrass team will be departing for their annual seed collection trip in Orkney. Following
Using a novel genetic clock, a team of researchers from Kiel, London, Oldenburg, and Davis, California, has determined the age of a large marine plant clone for the first time. This seagrass clone from the Baltic Sea dates back to the migration period 1,400 years ago. The newly developed clock
This Pride Month we’re celebrating our work with Pride Cymru. Thanks to support from Catalyst Cymru, Pride Cymru volunteers supported fieldwork to plant seagrass seeds as part of our programme of restoration work in North Wales. The planting took place earlier this year in Hafan y Môr, Pwllheli. An introduction
Between the 17th and 21st June 2024, over 500 scientists, conservation professionals, and managers will converge in Naples, Italy for the 15th International Seagrass Biology Workshop (ISBW15). It will be two years since the last meeting in Annapolis, USA. The theme of ISBW15 is “Seagrasses in the Anthropocene”, centred around
The theme of the 2024 World Ocean Day is catalyzing action for our ocean and climate. This recognises the fact that the health of the marine environment, including our globally declining seagrass meadows, requires significantly stronger local, national, and international action from both government and corporate leaders. In this article
This year’s World Environment Day campaign focuses on land restoration, under the slogan “Our land. Our future. We are #GenerationRestoration.” Loss and degradation of coastal marine ecosystems, compromise the delivery of important ecosystem services to human society. Yet turning the tide on these losses and working towards a net gain
Read our Project Leads’ fieldwork notes from May: Solent Fieldwork (Anouska Mendzil, Solent Lead) Solent fieldwork update: Day 1 Myself and Manning arrived to the Isle of Wight around 14:00 and met Becky. We had an afternoon of preparation including labelling pins and mini-buoys, sorting kit, sorting data forms and
Thanks to the support of local volunteers and landowners Stena Line, 50,000 seagrass seeds were planted last month at sites near Holyhead, covering an area of 150 m2. The planting followed on from a successful stakeholder engagement session held at Holyhead Sailing Club in March 2024, which was attended by
In a new blog series, our Conservation Trainee Abi David explores some of the amazing creatures that call seagrass meadows their home. Sea hares are odd looking creatures. They are mostly soft bodied but have a small internal shell, which separates them from their close relatives – sea slugs. The
Scientists warn that the future of our oceans and climate goals depends on reconnecting the ecological threads that hold coastal habitats together. A new study, launched at the International Seascape Symposium II at ZSL (Zoological Society of London), and published to align with UN Ocean Decade Conference represents two years
In a new blog series, our Conservation Trainee Abi David explores some of the amazing creatures that call seagrass meadows their home. Cuttlefish are molluscs and join squid and octopuses in the Cephalopod family. Predominantly found in temperate and tropical areas, 120 species can be found around the world. Cuttlefish
In this article, Project Seagrass CEO Dr Leanne Cullen-Unsworth reflects on the United Nations Ocean Conference: The 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference, co-organized by Costa Rica and France was held in the coastal city of Nice, France from 9 to 13 June. Over 15,000 people participated, including 2,000 scientists and
The BBNJ (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction) Treaty is critical for protecting and enhancing seagrass. Most of the world’s seagrass is within national jurisdictions; however, in some locations, such as the Saya De Malha Bank in the Indian Ocean, seagrass is located beyond any national jurisdiction. This means it’s not legally
The seagrass is greener along Florida’s Nature Coast … figuratively, that is. A new study published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series shows that seagrass ecosystems along the northern half of Florida’s Gulf Coast have remained relatively healthy and undisturbed for the last several thousand years. This is not the case for most
