Sea Rangers carry out seagrass restoration work in six countries across Europe.
Sea Rangers are involved in active seagrass restoration in the Eastern Scheldt in The Netherlands and the Bay of Arcachon in France. Additional seed collection work and monitoring takes place in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the UK. As part of the Seagrass Consortium, which the Sea Ranger Service co-founded in 2022, young people can now be vocationally trained and employed as full-time restoration professionals to accelerate large-scale seagrass restoration in Europe.
Seagrass meadows support high biodiversity of sea life by providing a habitat and nursery to many organisms. Seagrass also has the capacity to absorb CO2 and store it in its structure and in the sediment; a process called carbon sequestration. Some species of seagrass can store more CO2 per hectare than forests. It is surprising how such a small plant has the potential to make a big impact to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The infectious enthusiasm of Sea Rangers creates a good atmosphere during field work as they provide much needed additional capacity at all stages of the seagrass restoration process. From seed collection and processing, to planting and monitoring: Sea Rangers enable us to accelerate knowledge development and offer 'boots on the ground' to affect seagrass restoration at scale.
For our projects we have the most up to date scientific knowledge, the best practice restoration methods, the necessary permits and the political support. The biggest obstacle is finding the professional capacity for delivering the programmes on the ground. That is where Sea Rangers make the difference. Without their involvement today, the large-scale restoration of seagrass in Europe, at the speed at which we are now doing it, would simply not be possible.
Restoring intertidal seagrass in a vast estuarine environment like the Bassin d’Arcachon presents significant challenges due to the large scale, variability in site conditions, and the demanding work on mudflats. A key obstacle has been the need for a large, skilled workforce—an issue effectively addressed by the Sea Rangers.
Sea Rangers have supported GIPREB to carry out seagrass restoration in Étang de Berre. The way they organised as a team, their high motivation and unwavering enthusiasm were key drivers in the success of the work. Any stakeholder involved in seagrass work now has a strong opportunity by engaging the Sea Ranger Service.
The Sea Ranger Service is one of the founding members of the Seagrass Consortium. The consortium, which was founded in 2022 by European universities, government agencies and capacity-building organisations, is focused on accelerating and developing both scientific and logistical methods and standards to enable seagrass restoration at scale.
Seagrass meadows typically provide support for lots of aquatic life. It could be that smaller, or slower moving species find safety from predators within the canopy, or other species may choose to spawn amongst the seagrass, as a way to offer relative shelter to their offspring. Part of our work involves monitoring of protected wreck sites which provide homes for many types of sea life.
Every month our newsletter hits your inbox with all the latest news from the Sea Ranger Service, before you see it in social media.
