Restoring seagrass meadows

The Great Barrier Reef is home to the largest seagrass ecosystem on the planet at more than 4.5 million hectares. This accounts for 11% of the world’s seagrass.

Coastal habitats such as seagrass meadows are highly effective carbon sinks, absorbing and storing carbon 30-50 times more efficiently than tropical rainforests. This makes them instrumental in combating the impacts of climate change.

Seagrass on the Great Barrier Reef stores approximately 404 million tonnes of ‘blue carbon’. But its value extends far beyond its ability to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Seagrass meadows provide nurseries and feeding grounds for many marine species, improve coastal water quality, increase biodiversity on land and in the water, preserve cultural practices, mitigate floods and protect shorelines, and enhance the resilience of coastal habitats in the face of climate change.

This is problematic for a number of reasons; not only does it reduce the Reef’s capacity to store carbon, but triggers the release of historic carbon deposits, further increasing emissions into the atmosphere. Additionally, it decimates habitats that are vital for the survival of a range of marine life, including turtles and dugongs.

As part of this work, we’re:

• Building Australia’s first dedicated seagrass nursery, in collaboration with Traditional Owners and partners, to supply seeds for restoration work on the Reef’s seagrass meadows.
• Undertaking trials to demonstrate large-scale, seed-based seagrass restoration techniques in Gladstone Harbour, utilising seeds from the nursery.
• Establishing a training program for seagrass cultivation in partnership with Traditional Owners, which will support the sustainable operation of the nursery.