Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWT) is asking for volunteers to help with the restoration of local intertidal seagrass meadows – and this could simply mean divers keeping an eye out for possible coastal sites at low tide, or asking residents about their recollections of the area.
Research has shown that muddy estuarine seagrass beds hold up to four times more carbon than those found in deeper waters. Supported and funded by clothing manufacturer Seasalt Cornwall over the past three years, CWT has trialled various methods of replanting intertidal seagrass on the Fal-Ruan and Helford estuaries.
Also read: Show a Cornish beach a little love
The methodology is now ready to be rolled out across the county, but the most promising new sites for restoration still need to be identified. This can be a challenging task, explains CWT, because historical records of former seagrass locations are so limited.
“We want to give nature a helping hand by restoring sites in Cornwall where intertidal seagrass was once present but has now disappeared,” says CWT’s seagrass project assistant Beth Ford.
“Memories from local residents can help build a picture that will aid our active restoration and support recovery,” adds seagrass project officer Chloe James – so it might be a matter of tapping into the recollections of long-time residents to see whether they include seagrass that once grew on but has since disappeared from their local shores.
Any information that might prove useful to the project can be passed on to Cornwall Wildlife Trust by calling 07966 581046 or emailing beth.ford@cornwallwildlife.org.uk
Also on Divernet: ‘I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO SEAGRASS MEADOWS’, GREAT SEAGRASS SURVEY SURPRISES ORGANISERS, ENGLISH SEAGRASS SUCCESS PROMISES WORLDWIDE BOOST, HMS OCTOPUS ARMS DIVERS TO SOW SEAGRASS FAST
