The goal of Blue Meadows, our biggest and most ambitious seagrass project yet, is to protect what remains of UK seagrass meadows, and over the longer term restore what has been lost.
Scaled restoration of seagrass is hampered by multiple factors, including poor germination rates, plants only flowering once a year and the high cost of seed collection. To tackle this problem, we have constructed a huge 400 square metre purpose-built facility for plant aquaculture, the largest seagrass nursery site in the UK!
We have been able to construct this impressive facility through the support of MDL Marinas and through funding provided from the Green Challenge Recovery Fund. It’s based on the shores of the River Dart in Torbay, a stones throw away from the shoreline to allow the seawater to be pumped directly into the facility.
We are delighted to have received the support to construct this ground-breaking facility. It plays a key role in our research and development programme which is exploring different techniques to enable large scale restoration of this important habitat, ensuring a healthy future for it.
Mark Parry, Development Officer at the Ocean Conservation Trust
Watch the video below to take a deeper dive into the UK’s largest experimental seagrass nursery!
Find out more about this exciting project here.
If you want to donate to our charity, to help ensure a healthy future for this vital Ocean habitat, click here.
