Devon project leading the way in fight for healthy oceans
It's World Oceans Day and both on air and online we're looking at efforts to protect the waters across Devon
Last updated 8th Jun 2022
It's World Oceans Day and plans for a 700 hectare seagrass protection project have been unveiled - following initial work in Devon and Cornwall
Seagrass is the underwater equivalent of hedgerows in fields - providing a vital nursery for animals like seahorses.
In Falmouth a project's underway to let boats know not to drop anchor in an area around the size of 20 football pitches. A local boat user engagement campaign has also begun and base line bio-diversity measurement has been conducted with support from e-DNA analysis experts.
In Torbay a further 50 hectares of seagrass meadow are now getting protection.
The Ocean Conservation Trust's seagrass conservation project is called Blue Meadows. It aims to regenerate and restore 10 per cent of all UK seagrass in five years.
Blue Meadows is designed to let leisure and commercial boats know where seagrass exists and work with them to minimise disturbance of the meadows, allowing them to regenerate and flourish.
The Ocean Conservation Trust is also unveiling the UK’s largest experimental seagrass nursery this week. A 400 square metre purpose-built facility has been built near Brixham where a team of experts are researching different restoration techniques.
Seagrasses are up to 35 times more efficient at absorbing carbon than rainforests and despite only covering 0.2% of the seafloor, store 10% of the Ocean’s carbon. They also provide a nursery for many commercialy important fish species.
Mark Parry, Development Officer for the Ocean Conservation Trust, said: "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.
“In the UK alone, around 500 hectares of seagrass beds are being lost every year, mainly due to human activity. To many boaters, it is not clear where the seagrass meadows are, so they are unaware of the damage being caused when anchoring or fishing. That’s why the Ocean Conservation Trust’s primary goal is to protect existing seagrass meadows and allow them to regenerate. Over the next 5 years, we are aiming to protect 10% of all UK seagrass, approximately 700 hectares!”
Roger Maslin, CEO of the Ocean Conservation Trust said: “This is a significant step forward for our environmental work at the Trust and the most ambitious seagrass project yet in the UK.
"Blue Meadows is our holistic approach to seagrass protection, regeneration and restoration, which is vital to ensure a healthy future for this incredibly important species.
"We need the important work of restoration to be supported by protection and that’s why we will work together with Harbour Authorities, businesses and our scientific partners at Imperial, Keele and Plymouth Universities to fast track protection, whilst developing scalable, cost effective techniques for restoring what we have already lost."
Seagrass meadows provide nurseries for commercially important fish species, are biodiversity hotspots with a single hectare of seagrass providing sanctuary for up to 80,000 fish and 100 million small invertebrates, theyare also home to rare and endangered species like seahorses and stalked jellyfish.
Where seagrasses are present, they reduce the impacts of coastal erosion by stabilising sediments on the seabed and combat climate change by absorbing and storing vast amounts of carbon. They are up to 35 times more efficient at absorbing carbon than rainforests of the same area and despite only covering 0.2% of the seafloor, seagrasses store 10% of the Ocean’s carbon.
For more details about the seagrass project visit www.bluemeadows.org
Click here for more about World Oceans Day