AN INVERNESS-based nature agency announced a new partnership to protect and restore sea ecosystems in Scotland.
The agency, NatureScot said £2m in funding will be utilised to restore Scottish seagrass meadows.
Seagrass is considered the ‘only true flowering plant in the sea’ with meadows created by seagrass home to a variety of marine wildlife to the same degree as a rainforest with the food and shelter the habitat holds.
The Scottish coast stretches 18,000km containing at least 8,000 species.
However the agency said that there has been a global decline in seagrasses since the 1930s with 7% of meadows being lost each year.
The new initiative between the Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF) and the Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) will see at least 14ha (140,000m²) of seagrass planted.
Shirley Robertson, SSEN Distribution’s Head of Strategic Planning and Sustainability, said: “The restoration of seagrass meadows will bring tangible benefits to nearby communities both above and below the water level.
“Not only is the carbon sequestration rate of seagrass estimated to be three times higher than land-based planting, the revitalised meadows will help to improve the spawning conditions for fish shoals and other marine life.”
Their leaves and roots take in carbon dioxide and keep it away providing what NatureScot describes as a natural solution to the climate crisis and loss of biodiversity.
Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero, and Energy Màiri McAllan said: “Tackling the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss is a global and national endeavour.
“It will require the collective effort of governments, businesses and our whole society to deliver the necessary change.”
“The plant can also improve water quality, reduce contamination in seafood, and reduce wave energy, protecting people from the increasing risk of flooding and storms.
NatureScot Chief Executive Francesca Osowska said: “This unique project shows how organisations can and are working together to save the nature we all depend on.
“Nature and climate are intrinsically linked; if one is suffering, the other will be as well. So we need to take care of our seas and our seagrass.”
