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Seagrass

Protecting the Forgotten
Ecosystem

CCS Takes the Lead in Global
Seagrass Conservation Efforts

CCS has expanded its role in seagrass
conservation. This year, CCS took over the
leadership and management of SeagrassNet,
a global monitoring program established in
2001 to track seagrass health and threats.
SeagrassNet maintains a database of over
100,000 observations from 122 sites across 33 SeagrassNet Research Sites
countries. A new SeagrassNet website and data portal is under development and expected to launch in early 2025.
CCS is also a key partner in the 2030 Seagrass Breakthrough, a United Nations initiative that aims to protect 150,000 square
kilometers of seagrass and secure $1.2 billion in funding by 2030 to advance seagrass conservation efforts. The project,
which was announced at COP28 in December 2023, focuses on halting seagrass loss, restoring degraded areas, and doubling
protection for existing meadows while ensuring sustainable financing. The initiative was officially launched at COP29 in
November 2024.

CCS researchers are also contributing their expertise to the World Ocean Assessment III, a UN report on marine environments
emphasizing sustainable ocean economies, coastal communities, and indigenous knowledge. The report, expected in 2025,
will feature insights on the importance of seagrass ecosystems.

Seagrass meadows cover just 0.2% of the ocean floor, but they sequester 10% of the
ocean’s carbon and support 25% of global fisheries by providing crucial habitats.

Seagrasses are disappearing at a rate of one acre per hour!

One Acre of Seagrass Is a CCS Marine Ecologist Agnes Mittermayr,
Ph.D., the new director of SeagrassNet, at a
Biodiversity Hotspot! seagrass monitoring site in Provincetown,
May 2024.
It Can:
✔ Support 40,000 fish & 50 million
small invertebrates.

✔ Sequester 740 lbs of carbon per year

- that's equivalent to the emissions
of a car traveling 3,860 miles!

✔ Produce more than 42,000 quarts of
oxygen per day.

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