England’s largest seagrass restoration effort continuing in Plymouth Sound
Volunteers will pack 20,000 bags of seagrass seeds this month to help restore seagrass within Plymouth Sound.
Research shows at least 44 per cent of the UK’s seagrass has been lost since 1936.
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 one hectare of planting on 7 and 23 March, at Jennycliff Bay in Plymouth Sound. This will be in addition to the one-and-a-half hectares of seagrass planted in the natural harbour 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 five 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.
Mark Parry, Development Officer at the Ocean Conservation Trust, said: “After the success of our previous planting effort, we are excited to be getting underway again. These events take a lot of hard work, planning and preparation, and wouldn’t be successful without the help of our community. We are so proud of how many volunteers are willing to dedicate their time to help restore such an important habitat, within what is going to be the UK’s first ever National Marine Park.”
The four-year ReMEDIES project (July 2019 to October 2023) aims to plant a total of eight hectares of seagrass meadows - four hectares in Plymouth Sound and four hectares in the Solent Maritime Special Area of Conservation. In mid-March, planting will begin at the Solent restoration site west of the mouth of the Beaulieu River, adjacent to the North Solent National Nature Reserve shoreline.
Find out more about LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES by following on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @EULIFERemedies, or visiting www.saveourseabed.co.uk
