Seagrass is a marine flowering plant that grows in shallow coastal waters and forms underwater meadows. These meadows shelter marine life, support fisheries, improve water quality, stabilize sediment, and store carbon. Their protection starts with reducing the pressures that damage them; restoration works best when it is planned for local conditions and monitored over time.
What is seagrass?
Seagrasses are flowering plants adapted to life in the sea, not seaweed. They grow in shallow waters in many parts of the world, from tropical regions to the Arctic, and can form extensive underwater meadows. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reports that seagrass occurs in 159 countries across six continents and covers more than 300,000 square kilometres. Those global estimates depend on assessment methods and date; they describe UNEP’s reported coverage, not a fixed boundary.
Although meadows occupy a small share of the ocean floor, their ecological influence is much larger than their area suggests. UNEP reports that seagrass covers 0.1 per cent of the ocean floor. UNEP’s seagrass overview provides its distribution and coverage figures.
Why are seagrass meadows important?
They provide habitat and support fisheries
Seagrass leaves and roots create shelter, feeding areas, and nursery habitat for fish and shellfish, as well as animals such as turtles, dugongs, and seahorses. UNEP’s 2020 brief says seagrass meadows provide valuable nursery habitat to over one fifth of the world’s 25 largest fisheries. That figure concerns nursery habitat and those fisheries; it is not a measure of all fisheries’ dependence on seagrass.
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UNEP’s 2020 brief describes the links between meadows and fisheries. NOAA also summarizes their role in habitat and coastal ecosystems in its seagrass overview.
They help keep coastal water and sediment healthy
Meadows can filter and store nutrients and pollutants, trap sediment, and help keep the seabed stable. By reducing sediment movement and wave energy, they can contribute to coastal protection. These functions depend on local conditions and the health and extent of the meadow; seagrass is not a substitute for every other form of coastal protection.
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They store carbon
Seagrass captures carbon and can store organic carbon in marine sediments. Carbon estimates should be kept distinct because sources use different definitions and assessment contexts: UNEP says seagrass accounts for up to 18 per cent of the world’s oceanic carbon, while NOAA reports that seagrass accounts for 11 percent of the organic carbon buried in the ocean. These are not directly interchangeable measures. See UNEP’s overview and NOAA’s overview for their respective figures.
What threats do seagrass meadows face?
Many of the major pressures come from human activity in coastal waters and the land that drains into them:
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- Runoff: Agricultural and industrial runoff, as well as stormwater, can carry nutrients and pollutants into coastal habitat.
- Coastal development and dredging: Development and seabed disturbance can damage or remove meadow habitat.
- Physical damage: Anchoring, propeller scarring, trampling, and unregulated fishing can injure plants and disturb sediment.
- Climate change: Changing ocean conditions add pressure to already stressed meadows.
UNEP identifies runoff, coastal development, and climate change as high-impact threats, and also highlights unregulated fishing, anchoring, trampling, and dredging. NOAA discusses propeller damage and stormwater runoff among the threats to seagrass. The risks and trajectories differ among locations: UNEP notes that some regional meadows have recovered or seen declines abate, often where interventions reduce human-caused stressors. NOAA’s threats overview and UNEP’s overview describe these pressures.
How much seagrass has been lost?
Global loss figures describe different periods and measures, so they should not be read as if they were the same statistic. UNEP reports an estimate of 7 per cent annual global loss in the most recent census cited on its overview page; the passage does not state the census year, so this is not a guaranteed current annual rate. Separately, UNEP estimated that almost 30 per cent of global seagrass area had been lost since the late nineteenth century. That is a cumulative historical estimate, not an annual rate.
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The figures reflect particular assessments and methods, and do not mean every meadow is shrinking at either rate. The annual estimate is reported on UNEP’s overview; the historical estimate is in UNEP’s 2023 report.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What helps protect and restore seagrass?
Reduce the causes of damage
Protecting existing meadows and reducing the pressures that harm them are central to lasting conservation. Measures need to fit the local causes of decline—for example, addressing runoff where water quality is a problem, or limiting physical disturbance where anchoring or dredging is damaging habitat. Planting alone cannot resolve the underlying pressures.
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Plan restoration for the place
Restoration is not simply a matter of planting seagrass. Projects need to consider the location and habitat conditions, choose an appropriate restoration method, and set monitoring criteria that can show whether the meadow is recovering. NOAA’s 2018 technical guidance covers restoration planning, planting methods, monitoring criteria, and evaluation for the United States and adjacent waters; it is not a set of global rules. The guide is available as NOAA’s 2018 seagrass restoration handbook.
Monitor outcomes and coordinate action
Monitoring helps determine whether a project is establishing and whether conditions support recovery, while also showing where further action may be needed. UNEP describes international cooperation, science-based and ecosystem-based management, regional and global assessments, best-practice manuals, and on-the-ground conservation and restoration as parts of seagrass work. Its official overview states: “Seagrass protection and restoration are also central to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030).” UNEP’s overview describes this work.
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