Pioneering project to plant seagrass shared at Cop26
PLANTING seagrass meadows on the seabed off Plymouth is one of the UK’s environmental success stories being shared at the Cop26 climate change conference in Glasgow.
One hectare – the equivalent of 2.5 football fields – was planted in the Plymouth Sound Special Area of Conservation earlier this year, and a further half hectare will be added in late November and early December.
Fiona Crouch, ReMEDIES project manager for Natural England, said: “The seabed is a mostly hidden environment but its features are important for wildlife and people. Collecting and cultivating seagrass seeds before replanting them is a first for England at this scale. But it is only part of the job. Raising awareness of these sensitive seabed habitats, their location and importance, and inspiring people to care for them is vital if our work is to have a lasting impact. And being at COP26 to share this message will only help.”
Visitors to the Green Zone programme of events at Glasgow Science Centre will hear the story of England’s largest seagrass planting effort thanks to the LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES partnership, along with other nature-based solutions from Natural England at the Inter-Agency Climate Change Group stand.
Seagrass meadows provide important habitat for young fish and for protected creatures like seahorses and stalked jellyfish. Seagrass also helps clean the water as well as capturing and storing carbon.
Recent research has suggested that the UK may have lost up to 92 per cent of its seagrass. Natural England is leading the four-year, £2.5m partnership, funded by the EU Life Programme, to protect and restore seabed habitats in five SACs in southern England. ReMEDIES’ restoration lead, the Ocean Conservation Trust, aims to plant four hectares of seagrass in Plymouth Sound and four hectares in the Solent Maritime SAC.
ReMEDIES is also working to protect existing seagrass meadows. Through its partner, the Royal Yachting Association, it is engaging the recreational boating community to find out more about the impact of anchoring and mooring practices on the seabed and share best practice guidance with boaters.
It is also trialling and installing Advanced Mooring Systems (AMS) for boats. These systems are specially designed to reduce damage to the seabed from anchoring.
Around 16,000 bags of seeds and 2,200 seedlings have been planted in Devon’s Plymouth Sound National Marine Park, and the £2.5m project aims to grow eight hectares (80,000 sq m) of meadow in Devon and Hampshire over four years.