We have just launched ‘Blue Meadows,’ our biggest and most ambitious seagrass project yet, that will deliver a holistic approach to seagrass protection, regeneration and restoration.
This is vitally important work as seagrasses are one of the most valuable and biodiverse habitats on the planet, and are one of the few habitats that provide multiple benefits to the environment.
Since the 1930’s, up to 90% of Zostera marina seagrass beds have been lost, and despite the importance of these habitats, they are still in decline. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated in 2014 that seagrasses are still declining by 7% a year globally. This estimate makes it the fastest disappearing habitat on the planet.
Human activity, such as boats anchoring and destructive fishing activity harms seagrass beds. To many boaters, it is unclear where the seagrass meadows are, so they are unaware of the damage being caused. That’s why our primary goal is to protect and regenerate existing seagrass meadows.
Blue Meadows is designed to let leisure and commercial boat users know where seagrass exists and work with them to minimise disturbance of the meadows, allowing them to regenerate and flourish.
Over the next 5 years, we are aiming to protect 10% of all UK seagrass, that’s a huge 700 hectares, the size of 700 football pitches!
Find out more and watch the video about this exciting project here.
If you are a Harbour Authority or business and want to protect a meadow, click here.
If you want to donate to our charity, to help us ensure a healthy future for this vital Ocean habitat, click here.