Our fieldtrip this year to Bonaire was again centred around seagrass restoration. The first week, together with Msc student Josien and some wonderful volunteers from Woodwind Bonaire, we set up a new experiment to study the impact of turtle grazing, fish grazing and hydrodynamics on seagrass restoration success. The first results became clear as soon as we set up the experiment: the turtles removed all our restored seagrass, except in the turtle exclosoures. Lesson learned: you cannot restore seagrass without taking the grazers into account!
Next up was the establishment of a larger scale restoration effort in Lac Bay, as part of the RESEMBID program, using BESE elements.: biodegradable sheets that offer seagrass shoots stability during the initial phase of restoration. We combined the seagrass restoration efforts with a training day, during which we trained the local rangers of the Nature park management organisation STINAPA. We had an on-land session to provide information about the various seagrass species, their functioning, interactions with turtles and why it is important to protect and restore seagrass meadows, and we did an in-water session to teach seagrass monitoring methods. Of course, the rangers were also involved in the actual restoration efforts and will continue to monitor the plots. Very inspiring couple of days and really wonderfull and valuable to transfer some seagrass love and interest to others!!
