Seagrass meadows are critical to nurturing the ocean’s lifelines. Today the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources would like to highlight the importance of this often-unnoticed natural resource and its ecosystem services.
As we commemorate World Seagrass Day, we would like to encourage all residents, visitors, snorkelers, divers, water sports enthusiasts and operators to do their best to help us protect this critical habitat from degradation and loss.
Seagrasses are flowering plants that form dense underwater meadows in our coast’s shallow, sheltered areas. They are different from seaweed and have leaves, roots, shoots, and even flowers. Like the coral reefs and rainforests of the tropics, these underwater gardens are full of life, hosting many animals of different shapes, colours and sizes. However, like rainforests and coral reefs, these incredible underwater gardens are globally threatened.
Seagrass meadows play an important role in keeping our oceans healthy and providing a home for all kinds of marine life. Thousands of marine species such as shellfish, conch and sea turtles are reliant on healthy seagrass meadows. These meadows help to keep our oceans clean and clear, stabilise our coastline, produce oxygen, support biodiversity, and sequester carbon from the atmosphere.
Seagrass meadows are an important nursery ground, providing habitat to many juvenile species of fish, including commercially important species fished for food and income. The leaves of seagrass can filter pathogens, bacteria, and pollution out of seawater, making our oceans a cleaner and safer environment to enjoy. The roots of seagrass extend through the sediment, creating a network which strengthens the coast, reducing coastal erosion, and their leaves weaken wave energy and storm surges offering protection to from storms.
Seagrass meadows can store carbon in their sediment, essentially ‘locking’ away large amounts of carbon and acting as a carbon store. If undisturbed, this carbon can be stored for millennia. When seagrass meadows are destroyed, the carbon that they have stored for potentially thousands of years is suddenly released back into the ocean and can become a significant carbon source.
Despite the importance of seagrass to life on earth, they are globally threatened. It is estimated that we have lost one-third of our global seagrass meadows in the last century. They are mainly threatened by poor water quality, caused by urban, agricultural and industrial run-off, coastal development, direct physical damage such as anchoring, and the worsening impacts of climate change.
As we lose our seagrass, we lose the numerous benefits that seagrass meadows provide to people and planet.
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