Preliminary research to predict the suitability of areas for restoration was carried out through a project Modelling potential areas for Seagrass restoration within Plymouth Sound & Estuaries SAC and Solent Maritime SAC. This work helped support the selection of Beaulieu River for seagrass planting.
In March 2022, our restoration lead Ocean Conservation Trust began seagrass planting at our restoration site west of the mouth of the Beaulieu River, adjacent to the North Solent National Nature Reserve shoreline.
The seagrass seeds for planting were gathered on a series of collection dives at healthy seagrass meadows around Osborne Bay, Yarmouth and Bouldnor in July 2021. Read more here. They were cared for by our Cultivation Officer, Amelia, at our special facility in the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth.
A team of volunteers in Portsmouth and Southampton helped us pack the seeds into 20,000 seed bags to plant across one hectare of seabed at the restoration site.
ReMEDIES is also collaborating with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, World Wildlife Fund, Isle of Wight Estuaries Officer and Project Seagrass. Between us, we hope to visit and assess every seagrass bed in the Solent to build a thorough picture of its health and extent so that restoration efforts can have the greatest impact.
Planting efforts will be continuing this summer and we are excited to share more updates with you soon.
Find out more about Solent Maritime SAC.
