Project Seagrass: Island businesses back environmental research and restoration effort
Project Seagrass is building momentum on the Isle of Wight, with the support of major sponsors and keen volunteers from the business community. Project Seagrass is a non-profit conservation organisation working to restore seagrass and promote awareness.
Over the last century, the UK has lost up to 92% of its seagrass meadows and they continue to decline globally at a rate of 7% per year.
As part of the Seagrass Ocean Rescue project, more than 50 volunteers joined 20 Project Seagrass staff this summer to collect seagrass seeds in the Solent. Many organisations got stuck in, including Arc Biodiversity & Climate, Carlsberg, Liz Earle, CGI, Ocean Infinity, Mermaid Gin, Balance and Glo, the Isle of Wight Sea Scouts and Brownies, Open Minds and Outdoor Swimming IW, and Seagrass Champions, a group run by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. Keen locals also got involved, including Island photographer Theo Vickers who managed to capture the beauty of the existing seagrass meadows surrounding the Isle of Wight. Approximately 250,000 seagrass seeds were collected in a bid to understand more about the best methods for seagrass restoration across the UK
Seagrass Ocean Rescue is working collaboratively with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and ReMEDIES who are working to restore seagrass in the Solent. The project is funded by Liz Earle Beauty Co., Carlsberg and Sky Ocean Rescue.
Headquartered in Ryde, Liz Earle Beauty Co. has become a WWF partner for the next three years. With research showing that Gen Z’s and millennials are more invested than any other generation in protecting the planet and that 42% of consumers are unable to name a single brand that is taking positive action for biodiversity, Liz Earle Beauty Co. wants to show how brands can drive action and change.
“Sustainability has always been at the heart of our brand and since its inception, Liz Earle Beauty Co. has been aware of its environmental impact,” says Liz Earle Beauty Co. Head of Brand Marketing, Claire Lee. “Partnering with WWF feels like the natural next step in our commitment to building relationships that help to actively monitor and reduce our impact on the environment, as well as a chance to help our customers learn about the importance of biodiversity.”
Ian Boyd at Arc, an Island-based organisation supporting the seagrass project, says, “The results of the research and surveys already conducted are contributing important new data to the understanding of the Isle of Wight’s UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, two thirds of which is marine. The Solent trials will generate new techniques for propagation and conservation that can be shared across the global Biosphere network helping to protect and enhance these vital habitats so important to sustainable coastal communities and the ecosystems they share with the natural world.”
What is Seagrass and why does it matter?
Seagrass is an underwater plant that lives in the shallow, sheltered areas of our coastline. It provides a home for thousands of marine species, helps to stabilise our shores preventing coastal erosion, produces oxygen, creates cleaner water and captures and stores carbon. It also provides a nursery habitat for commercially important fish such as cod and plaice. Unfortunately, the UK has lost the majority of its seagrass meadows in the last century. The Isle of Wight represents a handful of areas where it still thrives. The Isle of Wight is also a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve which recognises the need to develop and promote solutions reconciling the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use. It’s critical that we protect and enhance what we have. The Biosphere Reserve status provides a platform to demonstrate this to the rest of the world.
