With the generous assistance from Ellie Parker, Marine Officer for Solent Seagrass Restoration Work (HIWWT), I embarked on my dissertation titled ‘A Critical Evaluation and Stakeholder Perceptions of Seagrass Meadows at Calshot and Chilling, Hampshire, Southern England’.

The main goal of my dissertation was to evaluate the effectiveness of the seagrass restoration and monitoring at Calshot and monitoring at Chilling that is underway as part of the Solent Seascape Project. I also spoke to some key stakeholders involved with seagrass in the Solent, including Blue Marine Foundation, Project Seagrass, a local resident, HIWWT, and a Solent Seagrass Champion Volunteer. I started with a site recce at Calshot on a chilly May morning, before the crack of dawn. It was beautiful to see the uncovered seagrass meadow with the glowing sunrise behind it. Other than the citizen science volunteers, there was no one around (not including the scurrying hermit crabs) making it a very peaceful morning.

From analysing the survey data from Calshot and Chilling, I found that the seagrass percentage cover was quite low however, there had been significant improvements in seagrass growth (canopy height) at Calshot between 2023 and 2024.

There were also improvements in biodiversity at Calshot between 2023 and 2024, suggesting that the Solent Seagrass Restoration Project (SSRP) is influencing positive change. However, as this is only one year’s comparison it is difficult to definitively say whether the change is down to the restoration efforts. There were also significant increases in algal coverage from 2023 to 2024 and through speaking to stakeholders, poor water quality was highlighted as one of the primary threats to seagrass meadows in the Solent.

It was also evident that the efforts of citizen scientists are vital to achieve the goals of the SSRP and would not be possible without them. It was also discussed that local residents to seagrass meadows had a low awareness of the presence of seagrass, highlighting the need for community education and engagement.

It is clear that the restoration efforts are on the right track and are much needed to restore the vitally important seagrass ecosystem. Seagrass provides many ecosystem services, such as increasing biodiversity and uptake of excess carbon. Therefore, threats to seagrass in the Solent, such as poor water quality and anchoring, should be mitigated where possible so not to negatively impact the restoration efforts.

Written by: Eve Quiney – MSc Coastal and Marine Resource Management, University of Portsmouth.