Seawilding – Seagrass and Sea Lion Boards working together
By Jo Moseley
Seawilding, founded by Danny Renton, is a charity pioneering Scotland’s first community-led seagrass marine restoration at Loch Craignish, a sea loch on the Argyll coast. So why Seagrass?
Seagrasses are the only flowering plants able to live and pollinate in seawater. They absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, helping fight climate change, and also provide vital habitat and spawning ground for fish and other marine species. Growing in large groups likened to an underwater meadow,
Seagrasses have been called the ‘lungs of the sea’, responsible for 15% of the ocean’s total carbon absorption. However, they are under threat from the many pressures affecting our oceans.
From 2021 – 2022, the Seawilding team planted ½ hectares of seagrass and is committed to planting more this year. Loch Craignish has ten small seagrass meadows, and Seawilding believes around 80 hectares of the seabed can be restored.
Sea Lion Boards are supporting Seawilding with a financial donation from each board sold and by giving the team paddleboards to conduct their work. Founder William Marsh told me why, “With seagrass having such an important role in bio-diversity and overall sequestered CO2 on a global scale, it was an easy choice for us to make our contribution. We saw Seawilding as a fantastic opportunity to help a community of passionate people wanting to make a change and protect their local environment. Loch Craignish is a stunning location, and due to the rocky coast, getting out to certain areas for mapping and planting wasn’t easy for the team. That’s where we came in with our boards and donated them to the team, allowing them to reach areas quietly and safely without disturbing the under or above-water environments.”
On 5-6th August, Seawilding is offering guided SUP sessions over the seagrass meadows as part of their Wild Seas Weekend. To find out more, including beautiful merchandise and take part in the nationwide Great Seagrass Survey, go to www.seawilding.org
Thank you, so interesting. I was just learning about Posidonia meadows in the South of France to write in my blog – pivotal in preserving the marine ecosystem.