Seagrass restoration Community of Practice Netherlands

Yesterday I visited the annual meeting of the seagrass restoration program in the Netherlands. The day brought together researchers, policymakers and other experts to exchange information and accelerate seagrass restoration in the Netherlands and beyond, organized by Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Altenburg & Wymenga, Witteveen+Bos and The Fieldwork Company.

Slide from the presentation by dr. L. Govers on nation-wide restoration activities

In the morning we listened to many examples of trial and error and succes stories of seed and sod-based restoration within the Dutch Wadden Sea, Lake Grevelingen and Veere and the Eastern Scheldt. Innovative techniques, e.g. drones to shoot seeds into very muddy areas inaccesible by foot, were presented. Main limitations are available seeds, scientific knowledge on suitable conditions and available techniqual equipment to scale up both subtidal and intertidal restoration efforts.

Panel discussion with dr. Richard Lilley, Elise Schuijtvlot, Sylvia Zaun and myself

In the afternoon I was honored to join the panel discussion on our vision of seagrass restoration moving forward. Is seagrass sufficiently embedded in policy? Where do we see potential for international collaboration? What are the main limitations and how do we tackle those? We talked about the Nature Restoration Regulation which immediately affects all member states with the obligation to meet targets and where necessary implement seagrass restoration in a structured way. Further, we identified opportunities in community building and raising seagrass awareness to facilitate protection of newly restored habitat. People are prone to protect what they love was the unifying vision for seagrass restoration moving forward.