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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 suggested we watch any other film (how they didnt go stir crazy, I honestly dont know…). However, my first real introduction to marine biology came at the age of 15, where we visited MOTE Marine Laboratory and Aquarium on a school trip. Here, I learnt that you could study the ocean as a career and that there was such thing as a ‘shark scientist’ which completley blew my little 15 year-old mind. Ever since, I have been an aspiring marine biologist who dreams of one day being able to hold the incredible title of ‘shark scientist’ – coolest job in the world, in my opinion! Through my degree, I fell in love with the practical side of marine biology and most enjoyed fieldwork and working in the laboratory. With this, I decided to apply for an integrated year in industry as part of my degree, which would allow me to work in the field and gain invaluable experience over the period of a year. After many setbacks as a result of COVID, it was only by chance that I secured a placement with Project Seagrass – now looking back, these setbacks were such a blessing in disguise as my time with Project Seagrass (so far) has been nothing less of incredible. I was to be thrown into the deep end for my first task, and joined the team at the Isle of Wight to assist with some fieldwork, mainly logger retrivals and drone map surveying. This was my first time working around the tides and experiencing the classic sleep schedule of a true marine biologist, including starts as early as 3am! However, early morning calls were rewarded with colourful sunrises above beautiful seagrass meadows – a sight that felt very magical to see (after a strong coffee). Perhaps even more exciting, this trip was to be the first time that I experienced a seagrass meadow in all it’s glory. I left the Isle of Wight feeling extremley inspired and with a burning passion to want to protect the meadows I had just wandered. A perfect start to my internship! During the last three months, I have supported the team across a number of projects across the UK. Assisting with small scale experimental planting trials in the Isle of Wight, processing seagrass nutrient analysis samples in the laboratory and more recently, I have assisted PhD student, Aisling Collins, with collecting blue carbon samples from Loch Craignish in Scotland. Along with supporting these projects, I have also helped with education outreach (creating bilingual resources both in English & Welsh) and social media communications. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities that Project Seagrass have and continue to offer me, and I am incredibly honoured to be able to assist such a devoted, hardworking, and supportive group of amazing people. I have learnt so much from each individual member of the team and have never felt more inspired to conserve and protect our wonderfully important seagrass ecosystems. Seagrass most definitley does rock!! Cyfiethiad Cymraeg   Internio â Project Seagrass   Fy enw i yw Lowri O’Neill, myfyriwr bioleg y môr 20 oed sy’n astudio ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe. Byth ers i mi gofio, dwi erioed wedi caru’r môr. Fel plentyn bach, byddwn i’n gwylio ‘Finding Nemo’ yn gyson, trwy’r dydd, bob dydd a byddwn yn pwdu pe bai fy rhieni’n awgrymu ein bod ni’n gwylio unrhyw ffilm arall (sut na aethant yn wallgof, dwi ddim yn gwybod i fod yn onest …). Fodd bynnag, daeth fy nghyflwyniad cyntaf i fioleg y môr yn 15 oed, lle ymwelon ni â Labordy Morol ac Acwariwm MOTE ar drip ysgol. Yma, dysgais y gallech chi astudio’r cefnfor fel gyrfa a bod math beth â ‘gwyddonydd siarc’, rhywbeth doeddwn i ddim yn gallu credu… beth?? Byth ers hynny, rwyf wedi bod yn fiolegydd morol uchelgeisiol sy’n breuddwydio am un diwrnod lle gallaf dal y teitl anhygoel o ‘gwyddonydd siarc’ – y swydd orau yn y byd, yn fy marn i! Trwy fy ngradd, cwympais mewn cariad ag ochr ymarferol bioleg y môr a mwynheais waith maes a gweithio yn y labordy’r fwyaf. Gyda hyn mewn meddwl, penderfynais wneud cais am flwyddyn mewn diwydiant integredig fel rhan o fy ngradd, a fyddai’n caniatáu imi weithio yn y maes a chael profiad amhrisiadwy dros y flwyddyn. Ar ôl llawer o rwystrau o ganlyniad i COVID, dim ond ar hap y sicrheais leoliad gyda Phroject Seagrass – nawr wrth edrych yn ôl, roedd yr anawsterau hyn yn gymaint o fendith mewn cuddwisg gan fod fy amser gyda Phroject Seagrass (hyd yn hyn) wedi bod yn anhygoel ac anghymarus. Cafodd fy nhaflu i’r pen dwfn ar gyfer fy nhasg gyntaf, ac ymunais â’r tîm yn Ynys Wyth i gynorthwyo gyda gwaith maes, yn bennaf adalw cofnodwyr ac arolygu mapiau gyda drôn. Hwn oedd fy amser cyntaf yn gweithio o amgylch y llanw a phrofi’r amserlen gysgu glasurol fiolegydd y môr, gan gynnwys cychwyn mor gynnar â 3am!  Fodd bynnag, gwobrwywyd galwadau bore cynnar gyda machlud haul lliwgar uwchben dolydd morwellt hardd – golygfa a oedd yn teimlo’n hudolus iawn i’w gweld (ar ôl coffi cryf). Efallai hyd yn oed yn fwy cyffrous, roedd y daith hon y tro cyntaf i mi weld dôl morwellt yn ei holl ogoniant. Gadewais Ynys Wyth gyda theimlad o ysbrydoliaeth eithafol a chyda angerdd enfawr i eisiau amddiffyn y dolydd roeddwn i newydd grwydro. Dechrau perffaith i’m interniaeth! Yn ystod y tri mis diwethaf, rwyf wedi cefnogi’r tîm ar draws nifer o brosiectau ledled y DU. Gan gynorthwyo gyda threialu plannu arbrofol raddfa fach yn Ynys Wyth, prosesu samplau ‘dadansoddi maetholion’ morwellt yn y labordy ac yn fwy diweddar, rwyf wedi cynorthwyo myfyriwr ôl-raddedig, Aisling Collins,

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. Seagrass habitats are vital for supporting ocean biodiversity. Biodiversity loss threatens both people and planet, placing pressure on our health, economy, and food security. We are currently losing biodiversity at an unprecedented rate. The 2020 Living Planet Report estimated that between 1970 and 2016 the global populations of vertebrates declined by an average of 68%. Land-use change for food production is one of the biggest threats to biodiversity. Humans have changed the face of the earth. We have polluted our oceans and destroyed more than 85% of our wetlands. In a bid to reduce biodiversity loss and stem the destruction of ecosystems by 2020, the Aichi biodiversity targets were outlined and adopted in 2010 at COP10. More than a decade later, not one of those targets were met. We have to realise that humans are not set apart from nature. We are intrinsically linked with nature and the threat to biodiversity is a direct threat to humanity. Our future is dependent on the protection and revival of healthy ecosystems. Biodiversity conservation is a non-negotiable if we are to live on healthy planet with food and economic security. We must stop working against nature. Encouraging biodiversity to flourish is vital for people and planet. COP15 has set the stage for an effective global biodiversity framework to halt the loss of biodiversity and bring life back to our planet. Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have adopted the Kunming declaration whereby they have committed to negotiate an effective post-2020 global framework that can bend the curve of biodiversity loss. What this looks like will be agreed upon when part 2 of the conference resumes in May 2022. Additionally, parties to the CBD have committed to upping the spend on biodiversity protection and restoration. The Government of China established a 1.5 billion-yuan (c.$233 million) Kunming Biodiversity Fund and the EU have promised to double its biodiversity fund. Parties to the CBD must now commit to an effective framework that puts nature on a path to recovery by 2030. We must all realise the role that healthy, biodiverse ecosystems play in our day-to-day lives and put pressure on our governments to recognise and support nature-based solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises.

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, the poet Dylan Thomas. Thomas also went on to describe the place as the ‘graveyard of ambition’, a phrase that’s referred to in an artistic inscription outside the local train station by a more modern Swansea poet that states “Ambition is Critical”. The analogies to seagrass are striking, both entities with image problems and a lack of ambition. The seagrass worlds most famous son Carlos Duarte termed seagrass the Ugly duckling of marine conservation. The inception of Project Seagrass was ultimately built around wanting to turn seagrass into that Swan and not be content to remain the Ugly Duckling. Just like the City with a university of growing reputation, and a leading football club, Project Seagrass was created with ambition. But times are changing for both seagrass and Swansea. When Carlsberg and Sky TV are sponsoring seagrass restoration, seagrass is in the latest GCSE syllabus, and political parties include it in their manifestos, seagrass has hit the big time. Seagrass is now the beautiful Swan, but now more than ever ambition really is critical for seagrass. Getting seagrass on the agenda is one thing, transforming the trajectory of this habitat is another thing. People have long appreciated the value of Coral reefs and Pandas, this appreciation alone hasn’t stopped their decline. The real battles are only just beginning for seagrass. We face a climate emergency, we stare down the barrel of a nature crisis, and we walk blissfully unaware into the extreme challenges of providing food security for a growing global human population. Maintaining and improving the capacity of our oceans to help fight these challenges is an urgent need. We can no longer ignore the plight of our marine ecosystems; we need to conserve and restore habitats at scale urgently. Not in 10 years, but now. In 2016, our director Benjamin Jones published his MRes thesis showing the perilous state of the UKs seagrass, Alix Green has just followed that up with a long-term estimate of the sheer scale of seagrass loss that’s occurred throughout the UK. Seagrass in the UK is not in a pretty state, and globally the trajectory is just as bad, with the Global Wetlands project revealing in a recent paper the scale of the continued global loss of seagrass. The Ugly Ducking may well have become the Swan, but this doesn’t mean the Swan is healthy. The worlds seagrass meadows still have major problems, as does the city of Swansea. Although enormous progress is clearly being made in seagrass restoration, with places such as Sweden, the Netherlands and the US storming ahead with their successful projects, its no good planting in one location if we’re losing it faster in another. Seagrass conservation must be way more than just restoration. Building on The Global Goal for Nature, at Project Seagrass we’ve begun to discuss the concept of how we can reach a state of Zero Net Loss of Seagrass, and ultimately create a vision towards Net Positive for Seagrass and eventually Full Recovery for Seagrass. Even at the spatial scale of Wales as a nation, this is no easy conundrum to solve. Just like the poverty and social challenges of Swansea that remain deep rooted, we recognise that on our 8th birthday, problems for seagrass are also deep rooted, and ambition for seagrass is critical now more than ever.

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 and tourist filled hotels dedicated to ecotourism. I volunteered on the marine programme at an environmental conservation NGO called A Rocha Kenya for two months. They are based right in the middle of East Africa’s oldest marine protected area, the Watamu Marine National Park (WMNP). The park covers a 10 km2 section of the lagoon and back-reef, south of Watamu village, and includes a diverse array of habitats (including coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangrove areas and a range of intertidal habitats including mudflats, beaches, and rocky shorelines) between the sand dunes all the way out to the fringing reef crest. The WMNP is a smaller, more strictly managed area of the larger 164 km2 Watamu-Malindi Marine National Reserve which extends to the north (see figure 1). WMNP was created in 1968 and the Watamu Malindi Marine National Reserve was declared a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1979. The park is officially managed by Kenya Wildlife Service, who are responsible for the management and conservation of the marine park. Figure 1: The geographical location of the Watamu Marine National Park within the wider Watamu Marine National Reserve along the coast of East Africa. Figure obtained from Sindorf et al. (2015). During my time there I was given responsibility to steward the two ongoing studies. I was put in charge of surveying the park for the location and distribution of IUCN Red listed soft pillow coral Anomastraea irregularis (figure 2). Whilst being internationally scarce, significant populations are located along the shallow rocky shores of the park.  Additionally I was involved in snorkel elasmobranch (sharks, rays, guitarfish) surveys. This meant snorkelling out to the edge of the reef, 1 km from the park shore and taking stock of all the species I saw. My tropical species identification skills improved dramatically, as well as my tan! Other duties I was involved in were helping out around the site, fixing a makuti thatch roof, and setting up internet cabling to serve a new educational building that was out of signal range. This experience taught me a valuable lesson in the importance of independent stewardship of the work assigned to me. I had to learn to adapt quickly, and pickup new skills required for the task at hand, this has proved valuable to me countless times since. Figure 2: Photograph of an A. irregularis colony taken by Dawn Goebbels So how does Seagrass relate? Well… out of the 12 species of seagrass recorded in Kenya, 11 have been found inside WMNP. One of these seagrass species, Zostera capensis, is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to decreasing population. Seagrasses are the most dominant component of the park covering nearly 40% of the benthos (Cowburn et al., 2018). This value comes from a study that mapped habitats found in 8.35 km2 (83.5% of 10 km2) of the park’s area. The mapping revealed that subtidal seagrass covered 3.292 km2 of (39.4%) of the mapped area and Intertidal seagrass covered 0.359 (4.3%) (Cowburn et al. 2018) This renders WMNP an area of high importance regarding international seagrass conservation efforts. Seagrass support a large range of flora and fauna they associate with. This marine plant population is a vital part of the marine ecosystem due to their ecosystem services. Seagrass provides ecological roles, blue carbon storage, feeding grounds for coral reef organisms, habitat and nursery areas for numerous marine species, fishery support, sediment stabilisation, improved water quality and coastal defence. They must not be allowed to disappear. The current A Rocha Kenya marine intern Eric Thuranira has put together a seagrass identification guide for the species within WMNP: The 11 Species Cymodocea rotundata Cymodocea serrulate Enhalus acoroides Halodule uninervis Halodule wrightii Halophila ovalis Halophila stipulacea Syringodium isoetifilium Thalassia hemprichii Thallassodendron ciliatum Zostera capensis References: Cowburn, B., Musembi, P., Sindorf, V., Kohlmeier, D., Raker, C., Nussbaumer, A., . . . Kamire, J. (2018). The habitats and biodiversity of Watamu Marine National Park: Evaluating our knowledge of one of east africa’s oldest marine protected areas. Atoll Research Bulletin, (618). Sindorf, V., Cowburn, B. & Sluka, R.D. (2015) Rocky intertidal fish assemblage of the Watamu Marine National Park, Kenya (Western Indian Ocean). Environ Biol Fish 98, 1777–1785. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0397-1

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 a pandemic, like everyone, Project Seagrass has had to adapt, but we’ve tried to continue our work, planting the final seeds in the two hectares of seagrass that represents the UK’s largest restoration project to date and forming relationships with like minded causes to work collaboratively in the fight against climate change.    2020: Key Highlights for Project Seagrass    JANUARY Director, Dr Richard Lilley (aka RJ), attended the Scottish Wildlife Trusts Living Seas Parliamentary event in Edinburgh. He discussed the importance of using accessible science to engage communities, the need for restoration and the benefits of collaborative seascape conservation. We also began working with Emitwise to build a partnership, encouraging companies to make their first steps towards achieving net-zero emissions.    FEBRUARY With planting finally on the horizon, the Seagrass Ocean Rescue team at Swansea University, worked around the clock preparing sandbags, seeds and rope. Despite delays and some sand related hiccups (finding sandbags whilst Wales was at high risk of floods proved increasingly difficult), an incredible team of volunteers, staff and the local community came together to plant a whopping ~750,000 seeds, just over 1.5ha of the 2ha target. Individuals came from far and wide to battle the elements and ensure planting was a success.     MARCH March began with an exciting media follow up from the planting week, BBC, ITV and The Guardian had spoken with Dr Richard Unsworth to discuss the importance of the Dale restoration and how seagrass can be used to tackle climate change, this made a positive contrast to the emerging news of the coronavirus. In more positive news, Project Seagrass were shortlisted for a Green Heart Hero Reward, shortly after planting, Richard and Leanne attended the event in London to accept the award for outdoor innovation. As more information regarding the coronavirus came to light, our entire team worked tirelessly to ensure we were prepared for the rocky road ahead.   APRIL As the UK-wide lockdown came into place, Project Seagrass, like many others, moved to work from home. Despite the change in workstyle, and the noticeable absence of fieldwork, the team reached out to our wider community. To celebrate Earth Day, we came together to read an extract from ‘The Loves of The Plants’ by Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles Darwin. This marked the beginning of Project Seagrass’ efforts to commemorate international days of environmental awareness.  Outreach technician, Evie Furness appeared on Lizzie Daly’s Youtube channel, speaking live and answering questions about seagrass. This came as part of Lizzie’s Earth Live Lessons, a series that began since the UK lockdown as a communal effort of scientists, filmmakers and conservationists. Following Evie’s lesson, Project Seagrass announced their ‘Seagrass As Art’ online exhibition, working in collaboration with Boston based seagrass artist, Nedret Andre, this was a continuation of our effort to involve the wider community whilst volunteer events and outreach were halted.   MAY The 22nd May marked the International Day for Biological Diversity, in part of our celebrations, Project Seagrass launched (Re)Store, an opportunity for donors to give their support to secure and restore seagrass meadows.    JUNE On 8th June, Team Seagrass came together to celebrate World Oceans Day with Wild Day’s. In true Project Seagrass style we put together a cheesy educational resource with the help of some sea faring friends. In addition to our celebrations, the new Project Seagrass website was launched! With updated information, the (Re)Store as well as several other new features. We also announced the winners of our ‘Seagrass As Art’ exhibition, we had entries from across the globe and winners from all age groups. All our winners were uploaded to Instagram as part of our highlight initiative! To conclude our celebrations, director Ben Jones performed his rendition of The Fresh Prince of Seagrass – this is a must see!  In a significant step for global seagrass recognition, June marked the publishing of the UNEP  ‘Out of The Blue’ report, a significant document that recognises the global importance of seagrass meadows to humanity. The incredible Frankie Morland released his song ‘The Ocean’, to raise awareness and funds for Seagrass Ocean Rescue, at Project Seagrass we appreciate the support and love we receive from our community, it’s very humbling to know how our work inspires the younger generations.  As June drew to a close, our team managed to carry out a socially distant survey of our restoration site in Dale, with some promising progress. Finally, representatives attended the ‘Rewilding The Sea’ digital conference, an overview of what can be done to protect our coastal ecosystems.   JULY In July, Project Seagrass celebrated its 7th birthday! To mark the occasion the Seagrass Ocean Rescue team returned to the Dale site to carry out surveys, by this stage there were several signs of growth.    AUGUST  As lockdowns eased, Project Seagrass successfully organised and carried out COVID friendly fieldwork in Porthdinllaen, North Wales, collecting half a million seeds. The team worked with the tides, snorkelling in the day and hand picking at night. Shortly after, we were pleased to announce our new seed picking location, a birding hotspot, the Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve in Northumberland.   SEPTEMBER  Another dive at the Dale site showed even more promising signs of growth, RJ updated our friends at Finisterre, with the first of a series of seasonal blog!  We also partnered with Wild Saint London to launch limited edition ‘Sea Tails’ lounge socks, the purchase of these socks allow us to collect, process and plant one hundred seagrass seeds covering one square meter.  Following the seed collection in August, the Seagrass Ocean Rescue team began the seed separation process, ready to plant the remaining area in Dale. Dr. Richard Unsworth and Dr. Leanne Cullen Unsworth