England

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This restoration work is part of England’s largest seagrass planting effort under the LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES partnership, led by Natural England.

The partnership’s restoration lead – Ocean Conservation Trust (OCT) – is carrying out 1 hectare of planting on 7 and 23 March, at Jennycliff Bay in Plymouth Sound. This will be in addition to the 1.5 hectares of seagrass planted there last year as part of the project.

It involves a huge contribution from volunteers, who will join the ReMEDIES partnership at the National Marine Aquarium (NMA) in Plymouth for 5 days of seed bag packing during March.

Fiona Crouch, Natural England Project Manager for ReMEDIES, said:

Restoring seagrass meadows means restoring the benefits they bring to people and nature – vital homes for wildlife, enhanced water quality, carbon storage, and so much more.

Disease, pollution, and physical disturbance has all contributed to the loss of seagrass. But seagrass is an important habitat, providing homes for sea life including juvenile fish and protected creatures like seahorses and stalked jellyfish. Seagrass also helps stabilise the seabed, reduce coastal erosion, clean surrounding water, and can be as effective at absorbing and storing carbon as our woodlands.