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.
My name is Lowri O’Neill, a 20 year-old marine biology student studying at Swansea University. Ever since I can remember, I have always been obsessed with the ocean. As a toddler, I would watch Finding Nemo constantly all day, every day and would kick up a fuss if my parents
By Elise Simone de Tourtoulon-Adams A huge thank you to all of our supporters who helped us successfully raise more than £9,000 in the Aviva Community Fund to go towards developing this nursery.
By Elise Simone de Tourtoulon-AdamsIf you would like to donate to support the nursery please head to: https://www.avivacommunityfund.co.uk/seagrass-nursery. Every donation helps and Aviva are currently matching your donation up to £50!
By Jenny Black The Carbon Cycle It is likely that we have all heard of carbon but what might not be known is the fundamental role it plays in our ecosystems. Carbon will naturally move between the atmosphere and the earth’s surface through interactions between organisms and ecosystems in a
A few weeks ago part one of the UN Biodiversity Conference (aka COP15) took place in Kunming, China. Whilst all eyes are on the UN Climate Conference set to take place in Glasgow, UK next week, we must not forget the vital role that biodiversity plays in our planets health.
Project Seagrass are embarking on a journey to build a seagrass nursery. This is no small feat and so we have enlisted the help of our new seagrass aquarist, Elise. Elise will be bringing you honest updates each month on how this journey is progressing. This is the start of
Eight years ago sat on a roof top café at Swansea University we ambitiously set up a small marine conservation organisation called Project Seagrass. Swansea has always seemed a fitting place for Project Seagrass to start. After all it was deemed the ‘lovely ugly town’ by its most famous son,
By Sam Freeman In the summer of 2018, after finishing my penultimate year of my undergrad Marine & Freshwater Biology degree, I travelled to Watamu. Watamu is a small but beautiful coastal town just north of Mombasa, in Kenya – East Africa. Watamu is famous for its picturesque sandy-white beaches
As 2020 draws to a close, we look back on a year that has been nothing short of unusual. Despite the challenges, it has been a year for reflection, growth and innovation, and we believe there’s never been more reason to work toward a brighter future. In the face of
“I’ve had an extraordinary life. It’s only now that I appreciate how extraordinary. As a young man, I felt I was out there in the wild, experiencing the untouched natural world – but it was an illusion. The tragedy of our time has been happening all around us, barely noticeable
The Ocean is in crisis. Coral reefs are bleaching, seagrass meadows are vanishing, mangroves are being cleared, and biodiversity is plummeting. Scientists estimate we’ve already lost up to 50% of global saltmarshes, 35% of mangroves, and 20% of seagrasses. Yet alongside this sobering decline, momentum for marine restoration has never
Earlier this year, the Scottish Government circulated a draft version of Scotland’s first Blue Carbon Action Plan with key stakeholders to gather comments and feedback. Project Seagrass was one of the organisations contacted as part of this process. The Blue Carbon Action Plan sets out the Scottish Government’s position and
Posidonia seagrass meadows, veritable underwater forests, play a major ecological role. Under constant pressure from human activity, scientists are looking for ways to ensure their survival, in particular by carrying out restoration campaigns. A study conducted by the University of Liège at the marine and oceanographical research station STARESO (Calvi,
This summer, the Sjogras Partnership returned to Orkney to undertake a range of surveys to further develop our understanding of the health and extent of Orkney’s important seagrass meadows. Between the 19th July and 1st August, Professor Joanne Porter from Heriot Watt University and Dr Elizabeth Lacey from Project Seagrass
In a guest blog post, Laura Suggitt shares her experiences of swimming the Channel to raise vital funds for environment funds including Project Seagrass: Earlier this month, I swam across the English Channel to France with my team, The Matriarsea. We completed the crossing in 12 hours and 49 minutes;
This summer, teams came together in Makassar, Indonesia, for the Seagrass Knowledge for Action in Southeast Asia workshop to explore pathways forward for strengthening knowledge, building research capacity, and development to further safeguard local seagrass social-ecological systems. Co-hosted by Universitas Hasanuddin (UNHAS) and Project Seagrass, the workshop involved teams from
