Over 250 participants from the countries of the Western Indian Ocean region and beyond joined WIOMSA and IUCN for the seagrass webinar.
Seagrasses are the unsung heroes of the ocean. These underwater flowering plants found in shallow waters across the world, cover over 300,000 square km in 159 countries, forming highly productive meadows that are crucial for marine ecosystems, providing nursery habitats for over 20% of the world’s 25 largest fisheries and supporting thousands of species. Seagrasses also improve water quality, protect shorelines, and offer cultural benefits. Moreover, they are powerful allies in the fight against climate change, storing up to 18% of the world’s oceanic carbon and protecting coastlines from floods and storms. Despite their immense socio-ecological value, seagrasses face significant threats, including pollution, overfishing, and climate change. Urgent conservation and restoration efforts are needed to safeguard these “unsung heroes” of the ocean, as seagrasses are the least conserved habitat, whereby only 26% of recorded seagrass meadows are within Marine Protected Areas as compared to 40% of coral reefs and 43% of mangroves, with an estimated 7% of seagrass cover being lost yearly.
The webinar provided a platform to present the Western Indian Ocean Coastal and Ocean Resilience (WIOCOR), supported by FFEM, which seems to advance locally impactful regionally relevant seagrass action and governance under the Great Blue Wall initiative.
Furthermore, the Pew Charitable Trusts are undertaking an ambitious regional seagrass mapping and their carbon storage assessment which will significantly enhance the knowledge base of seagrass conservation in the region. WIOMSA is delighted to partner with IUCN and Pew Charitable Trust on this agenda.
The Webinar brought together various actors working on seagrass in the region, including the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) whose RECOS project has been a gamechanger for seagrass and mangrove action in WIO islands. We were honoured to welcome Dr Jacqueline Uku (Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute), Dr Blandina Lugendo (University of Dar es Salaam), Dr Salomão Bandeira (University Eduardo Mondlane), who shared their expertise and top priorities for seagrass leadership and action in the region. Dr Jacqueline Uku, Chair of the Africa OCean Decade Task Force, stated that “the age of the seagrass has come”, and indeed, we are committed to ensuring that Africa taps into the immense potential of this incredible ecosystem.
The insights from this inception webinar will inform the development of a regional seagrass status report as well as the next MASMA and MARG grants offered by WIOMSA and the launch for a call for proposals for community-led seagrass projects in target countries.
Access the webinar recording.
Access the presentations.
