Seagrass Restores Underwater River Habitat

Christina Thompson (Anchor, EarthxNews): Conservationists in the UK are praising an underwater plant for its ability to absorb pollutants from the water.

And now, an effort is underway to restore it in the Tees River as volunteers hope the plant will improve the habitat and water quality of the body of water on England’s northeastern coast. Leonardo Feldman has more.

FELDMAN: The United Kingdom is planting seagrass meadow in an effort to combat climate change. The Tees River Trust says this project will benefit not only the species living in the area but also it will help clean out pollutants from the water.

Judy Power (Tees River Trust): A meadow of seagrass can provide habitat for all sorts of species of small fish, marine invertebrates. It can actually work towards improving water quality and maybe also in keeping carbon locked into the sediment rather than releasing it into the marine environment.

FELDMAN: It is worth noting that the seagrass will first be grown onshore in tanks with sea water given that the survival rate is a lot better that way, rather than planting the seeds already in the location where they’ll eventually be.

Kate Baxter (Tees River Trust): The idea is we’ll keep half here at the terrestrial nursery, but the other half will go out into the estuary later in the summer so that then becomes that self-sustaining meadow.

FELDMAN: The same group is also working on another project. They plan on reintroducing oysters to the estuary.

Henry Short (Tees River Trust): In this location, we’ve got 17 baskets. So about 600—or just under—oysters in this area. A single oyster can filter up to 200 liters of water a day. So if you get them in enough volume, they can actually clear up the water in your local area, which means more light for plants such as seagrass to flourish.