Flower power

According to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Seagrasses are unique in that they are the only flowering plants that can live entirely in the sea. They are important nursery and foraging habitat for fish and shellfish, and they cycle nutrients and oxygenate the water. They have been shown to remove harmful pathogens, pollutants and microplastics from the water, keeping coastal ecosystem healthy. They are also dugong and turtle feeding grounds.

Coastal Marine Ecosystem Research Centre Director, Professor Emma Jackson said the expanded nursery would play a crucial role in seagrass restoration in the region.

“Seeds collected from nurseries are used to re-seed damaged or fragmented meadows, helping to improve their overall condition and resilience,” she explained.

“This upscaled initiative, hosted by the Coral Sea Marina Resort, builds upon the success of the pilot nursery, which demonstrated outstanding seagrass growth and serves as a model for other areas.

“The new nursery is three times larger than the pilot nursery and will enhance our capacity for seagrass restoration, but also have more accessibility for local community, schools and tourists to visit and learn about this important habitat.”

This project is working with Traditional Owners as custodians of Land and Sea Country to deliver restoration activities and build capacity. As part of the project, CQUniversity has employed two local Traditional Owners to maintain the nursery and safeguard the seagrass.

“This collaboration underscores our commitment to integrating traditional knowledge with scientific practices. Community members can also volunteer to help collect seagrass flowers, with multiple events held each year.”

The nursery is part of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s Reef Islands Initiative Whitsunday Seagrass restoration Project and is a partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, CQUniversity, Reef Catchments, the Coral Sea Marina Resort and Ngaro and Gia Traditional Owners.

Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s Reef Islands Initiative Senior Program Manager Clarissa Elakis said the importance of seagrass to the Great Barrier Reef could not be overstated.

“The Pioneer Bay seagrass meadows are an important nursery and food source for endangered species like the turtle and dugong and help filter pollutants like fine sediment and nutrients from the water. But they also have another critical job – mitigating climate change by storing carbon,” she stated.

“However, as the climate continues to change, the Reef’s seagrass meadows are struggling to recover from increasingly severe and frequent cyclones like Cyclone Ului and Cyclone Debbie which severely impacted the region’s seagrass meadows in 2010 and 2017.

“The new expanded seagrass nursery will give local seagrass meadows an additional boost toward recovery.”

Professor Jackson said the increasing impact of climate change and water quality had been felt by seagrass meadows worldwide.

“Initiatives such as this play an important role in building the health and resilience of these important marine environments.”

The Reef Islands Initiative is supported by funding from Lendlease, the Australian Government’s Reef Trust, the Queensland Government and the Fitzgerald Family Foundation, and locally coordinated by Reef Catchments.

Visitors to Coral Sea Marina can see the flourishing seagrass nursery on A Arm.

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