Over the past five years, we have been leading on the cultivation and restoration elements of England’s largest seagrass restoration effort, the LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES project. From trialling different restoration techniques to creating innovative seed storage facilities, find out more below!
Over the lifetime of the ReMEDIES project, we have had a unique opportunity to trial methods to restore the critically important species Zostera marina, as well as pushing boundaries to deliver restoration at scale.
Restoration success!
We have been working in the Plymouth Sound Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and the Solent Maritime SAC, to restore 8 hectares of seagrass, that’s around 11 football pitches in size! During the project we trialled two techniques of restoration; seed broadcasting and seedling translocation.
Seed broadcasting included deploying hessian bags with seed in (to restore 3.4 hectares) and an innovative injection device called HMS OCToPUS (to restore 3.5 hectares through Hydro Marine Seeding). Seedling translocation involved growing adult plants from seed, within Seagrass Mat Technology, in the seagrass cultivation laboratory at the National Marine Aquarium. These plants were then deployed into the restoration site (to restore 1.18 hectares).
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. The team will continue to monitor the restoration sites, but preliminary results are positive, showing some regeneration of the seagrass beds!
Seed storage innovation and seagrass germination success
To improve restoration of seagrass meadows in the UK, we have also developed an innovative seed storage facility. Seagrass seeds can only be hand-picked by divers once a year when the seagrass plants flower. However, to restore seagrass meadows all year round, we needed a solution for keeping the seagrass seeds healthy in our laboratory.
To prolong the viability of the seeds we collect, they are kept in dormancy, using a purpose-built high salinity, chilled recirculatory system. Correct storage is critical to avoid premature germination and pathogenic infections, improving the long-term survival of the seeds until they are ready to be planted.
After taking the seeds out of dormancy, we care for them through seedlings and into adult plants as they grow within the Seagrass Mat Technology. Throughout the length of the project, we have been striving to improve the germination of seagrass grown in the laboratory. In just two years, we have improved the average germination from 5% through to 33%, which we believe to be the highest figure noted in literature concerning seagrass restoration!
LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES was a £2.5 million, four-year marine conservation project to Save Our Seabed at five Special Areas of Conservation in Southern England, through seagrass restoration, education and innovation. It was funded by the EU LIFE programme and led by Natural England in partnership with Ocean Conservation Trust, Marine Conservation Society, The Royal Yachting Association and Plymouth City Council/Tamar Estuaries.