The Grass Underwater Project
More than half of the seagrass cover in the ocean has been lost since 1977. This is due to numerous anthropogenic pressures that threaten the existence of seagrass beds. Most findings report that pollution, coastal developments and boat anchoring have for decades been the major cause of seagrass loss in many areas including the Indian Ocean. It’s estimated that every day more than 1000s of seagrass are dying and drawn away from the ocean with this rate of seagrass death increasing. There is a possibility of losing seagrass beds completely in the next 10 years if no actions are taken. THE GRASS UNDERWATER PROJECT has a goal to make seagrass a familiar habitat to everyone so as it’s no longer overlooked but given the spotlight it deserves through raising awareness to the community, performing seagrass bed monitoring, research, conservation, protection and restoration also it will aid to protection of Tanzania Marine endangered spp like sea cow and sea turtles whose existence greatly depends on seagrass for food and shelter.
Expected Outcomes of the project
1.Areas of seagrass meadows in Tanzania will be adopted for a long time monitoring, restoration and conservation
2.1000s of the coastal communities will learn on the values and roles of seagrass and how they can conserve the seagrass meadows
3.Marine endangered spp; dugong dugongs and sea turtles will be protected from further extinctions
4.The coastal communities will benefit from the BLUE ECONOMIC activities that will be practiced from the seagrass meadows including; bivalves farming, sea cucumber farming and carbon credits