Conservationists find hundreds of new seagrass shoots in a Cornwall estuary

More than 430 seagrass shoots have been discovered across 50 patches of seabed in the Fowey Estuary. The find comes after volunteers collected seeds from a donor meadow in Torpoint and planted them in the estuary, where they remained buried through the winter before growing in the spring. This new growth offers encouragement for conservationists following an uncertain start to the spring when only six seedlings had emerged by the end of April. The project forms part of a wider partnership between Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Seasalt Cornwall aimed at restoring the region's lost marine habitats. Seagrass acts as a crucial marine ecosystem by providing shelter for fish, improving water quality, and capturing carbon at a rapid rate. Mainland Britain has lost up to 92 percent of its seagrass meadows over the last century, making these restoration trials an important part of environmental recovery efforts.