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.
Between the 11th and 13th November 2025, scientists, conservation professionals, practitioners, and community groups from across the UK will converge in Cardiff for the 2025 UK Seagrass Symposium (UKSS). Hosted by Project Seagrass, the event will build upon the success of the inaugural UKSS (hosted by Ocean Conservation Trust and
A new global analysis finds that many of the world’s most threatened seagrass meadows lie within designated Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), raising urgent questions about the effectiveness of current protections for coastal habitats and offering a chance opportunity to rethink global ocean conservation. The study, led by a team of
For millennia, humans lived as hunter-gatherers. Savannas and forests are often thought of as the cradle of our lineage, but beneath the waves, a habitat exists that has quietly supported humans for over 180,000 years. Archaeological evidence suggests that early humans migrated along coasts, avoiding desert and tundra. So, as Homo spread from
During the 2020-21 academic year Project Seagrass welcomed Emma Butterworth to undertake an internship. In our Q&A, Emma shares her experiences of her internship with Project Seagrass and discusses what she has gone on to do next. Who/What inspired you to apply for an internship at Project Seagrass? It all
During the 2021-22 academic year Project Seagrass welcomed Ellie Postlethwaite to undertake an internship. In our Q&A, Ellie shares her experiences of her internship with Project Seagrass and discusses what she has gone on to do next. Who/What inspired you to apply for an internship at Project Seagrass? As a
Published in the journal Ocean and Coastal Management, the research set out to establish the value of local ecological knowledge (LEK) and its ability to generate high-quality habitat maps around five Greek islands in the eastern Aegean Sea. Ten fishermen, based on their individual experience and knowledge, were asked to pinpoint areas
To protect and restore seagrass, we need reliable maps showing where seagrass is growing and how this is changing over time. Global seagrass distribution and status is difficult to map and monitor, largely due to its widespread distribution and the relatively limited scientific resources focused on seagrass. Mapping work to
During the 2021-22 academic year Project Seagrass welcomed Lowri O’Neill to undertake an internship. In our Q&A, Lowri shares her experiences of her internship with Project Seagrass and discusses what she has gone on to do next. Who/What inspired you to apply for an internship at Project Seagrass? My lecturer,
Seagrass meadows and their elusive inhabitants, dugongs, are under threat across Asia. To tackle this, conservation experts, policymakers, and researchers from across the region gathered in Bangkok in February 2025 for the First Asian Regional Dialogue on Seagrass and Dugong Conservation. The goal? To find real, actionable solutions to the challenges
Between the 8th and 10th April 2025, Project Seagrass will join other scientists and conservation professionals in Arcachon, France for the 2nd European Seagrass Restoration Workshop. Hosted by The Seagrass Consortium the workshop follows on from the inaugural workshop held in Portinho da Arrábida, Portugal in 2010. The 2025 workshop
For approximately 3,000 years, generations of green sea turtles have returned to the same seagrass meadows to eat. This was discovered by Willemien de Kock, a historical ecologist at the University of Groningen, by combining modern data with archaeological findings. Sea turtles migrate between specific breeding places and eating places
Discussions of valuable but threatened ocean ecosystems often focus on coral reefs or coastal mangrove forests. Seagrass meadows get a lot less attention, even though they provide wide-ranging services to society and store lots of climate-warming carbon. But the findings of a new University of Michigan-led study show that seagrass
Mangroves are growing in areas historically dominated by salt marshes and oyster reefs. Invasive pacific oysters are replacing native blue mussels in the Wadden Sea. Macroalgae are exhibiting dominance over hard corals in the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific. Climate change-driven shifts in dominant, habitat-forming species such as these can have significant
Seagrass, a group of aquatic angiosperms, grows in shallow waters in the coastal sea and contributes most of the primary production while participating in many important ecological processes. Heat stress threatens the survival of seagrass, but its damage mechanisms are unclear. Recently, a research team led by Prof. Liu Jianguo
A study of eelgrass meadows planted by researchers from the University of Gothenburg shows that fauna return rapidly once the eelgrass has started to grow. Already after the second summer, the biodiversity in the planted meadow was almost the same as in old established eelgrass meadows. Eelgrass meadows have declined
