Seagrass, which is found in shallow waters of coastal regions, has been declining globally at a rate of about 7% a year since 1990. In the UK, upto 92% of the plant may have disappeared from around our coasts in the last century. A seagrass restoration project is underway in south Wales in a bid to counter this trend, at the same time as helping to tackle the effects of climate change by absorbing C02. Other benefits could be an increase in fish numbers as well as supporting other marine wildlife.
Last summer, 750,000 seeds were gathered from sites around the British coast and stored at the laboratories in Swansea University. The seeds have been transferred into small hessian sandbags and work has now started on placing seeds onto the seabed off Pembrokeshire to create a new 20,000 sq m (215,280 sq ft) meadow.
Another 250,000 seeds will be gathered later this year and added to the meadow in November.