Restoring seagrass in St Marys Bay with the support of ScottishPower Foundation!
With the support of ScottishPower Foundation, we recently restored 2,500 square metres of seagrass in St Marys Bay!
We plant seagrass seeds into sand on 100% biodegradable mats. It’s important that the seedlings become established before planting into the seabed. So, each pillow we deployed into St Marys Bay contains healthy seagrass plantlets, which have been grown in our specialised facility for plant aquaculture, the largest seagrass nursery site in the UK. Once developed the seagrasses are a perennial plant that can reproduce in two ways: by flowering and seeding, and by sending out rhizomes.
In total, we deployed 100 biodegradable hessian pillows, covering 2,500 square metres. Shortly, Blue Meadows marker buoys will be put into place to protect this restoration site, allowing it to grow into a thriving seagrass meadow.
Healthy seagrass meadows are vitally important because of the numerous environmental benefits they bring to our planet, including supporting fisheries for commercially important species, being a hotspot for biodiversity, reducing the effects of coastal erosion and capturing carbon. When seagrass meadows are damaged, by boats anchoring, it has a detrimental effect on their overall health, which means the many environmental benefits they provide are lost.
This is why the Blue Meadows approach aims to both protect the seagrass meadows we already have and restore the ones we have lost.
The essence of the Blue Meadows project is one of co-operation to solve a critical problem and to grasp a wonderful opportunity. We are delighted to be supported by a number of partners across the UK, as well as passionate seagrass champions in the communities where Blue Meadows sites are located.