We’re proud to have worked on England’s biggest seagrass restoration project over the last five years!
On a healthy seabed, vital habitats like seagrass can flourish. To address the ongoing health of the seabed, the LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES (Reducing and Mitigating Erosion and Disturbance Impacts affEcting the Seabed) project, co-funded by the EU LIFE programme and led by Natural England, was established. Alongside our partners, Plymouth City Council, the Marine Conservation Society, the Tamar Estuaries Consultative Forum and The Green Blue (The Royal Yachting Association), we employed the latest science and innovation to develop evidence-based strategies to protect and restore sensitive seabed habitats. Find out more below!
About the ReMEDIES Project
Seagrass meadows stabilise the seabed, clean surrounding seawater and absorb carbon, helping to prevent climate change. They are havens for many marine animals including seahorses, stalked jellyfish, and rare seaweeds. These habitats are also important fish nurseries, including for commercially valuable flatfish such as plaice and flounder. Five Marine Protected Areas along the south coast with these important features benefited from the work of the ReMEDIES precject – the Isles of Scilly, Fal & Helford, Plymouth Sound & Estuaries, Solent Maritime and Essex Estuaries SACs.
Key Project Achievements
- 8 hectares of subtidal seagrass planted, that’s the equivalent of 11 football pitches in size!
- Over 4,000 children reached through outdoor events and an engaging education programme developed for schools.
- 17 advanced mooring systems (AMS) installed for boat users, protecting up to 2,000 square metres of seagrass from damage by scouring.
- 3 Voluntary No Anchor Zones (VNAZ) established, protecting approximately 47 hectares of seagrass habitat.
- The Green Guide to Anchoring and Moorings published, filled with practical advice for boaters.
Seagrass Restoration Success!
We were delighted to lead on the cultivation and restoration element of the project, and have had a unique opportunity to trial methods to restore the critically important species Zostera marina. We trialled two techniques of restoration; seed broadcasting and seedling translocation. Seed broadcasting included deploying hessian bags with seed in and an innovative injection device called HMS OCToPUS – Hydro Marine Seeding Ocean Conservation Trust o Pressurised Underwater Seeder. Seedling translocation involved growing adult plants from seed, within Seagrass Mat Technology, in the seagrass cultivation laboratory, and deploying the adult plants into the restoration site.
Through trialling these different techniques we have identified viable ways to achieve subtidal seagrass restoration – using Hydro Marine Seeding and Seagrass Mat Technology in combination. We will continue to monitor the restoration sites, but preliminary results are positive, showing some regeneration of the seagrass beds!
To find out more detail about the success and legacy of the ReMEDIES project, then click on the button below to read the project report, or watch the video!
The seagrass cultivation facility at the National Marine Aquarium will continue to showcase the work of the LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES project, as well as providing a fantastic facility and learnings which will continue into our Blue Meadows large-scale restoration project.
