Efforts to restore and repair seagrass populations on the Great Barrier Reef have received a significant boost this week, thanks to the grand unveiling of the world’s largest – and only – purpose-built seagrass nursery, the first stage of a $15 million project to shape sustainable coastal futures across Australia.

Project leaders at the Central Queensland University’s Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre (CMERC) in Gladstone, have said the nursery will be “transformative in enhancing degraded seagrass meadows” and helping to build their resilience against the increasing impacts of climate change.

Called SeaGrow, the nursery has been three years in the making and is the initial stage within a $15 million CMERC project – funded by Coles Group and the Federal Government – to develop evidence-based, innovative research solutions to “shape sustainable coastal futures.”

It will be used to cultivate seagrasses from which seeds will be collected to then re-seed damaged or fragmented meadows along the Queensland coast. The overarching aim is to help improve the overall condition and resilience of such meadows along Australian coastline.

“Our new nursery – which is the largest of its type in the world – will enhance our capacity for seagrass restoration while providing more accessibility for local community and schools to visit and learn about this important habitat,” said CMERC director, Professor Emma Jackson.

The project has been funded through a partnership between Coles Group and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, with additional support from the government-backed Reef Coastal Restoration Programme. Through this financing, the team at CMERC has been able to transform the seagrass nursery into a state-of-the-art facility “far beyond what was initially envisioned.” 

“This remarkable upgrade will elevate our restoration research efforts with positive outcomes for coastal seagrasses and the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem,” said Professor Jackson. 

Through the nursery, CMERC will work with Traditional Owners as custodians of Land and Sea Country to both deliver restoration activities and build capacity. It’s a collaboration that will help its project leaders integrate “traditional ecological knowledge and scientific practices.” Community members will also be able to volunteer to collect seagrass flowers – just one of the crucial activities already underway today.

Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef, Senator Nita Greenm, has pointed out that the seagrass restoration nursery will play a significant role in ensuring the Reef’s viability for generations to come.

“The Australian Government is proud to support the unveiling of the Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre seagrass nursery at CQUniversity in Gladstone today,” she said. “If we protect the Reef, we protect our future. That is why we committed more than $15 million to develop this facility, which will undertake critical scientific work to improve the Reef.

“As well as a crucial investment for our amazing natural environment and the communities that rely on it, this will support the entire Queensland – and Australian – economy.”

As home to the world’s largest seagrass ecosystems, the Reef’s meadows provide nurseries and food sources for many endangered species, including turtles and dugongs, while acting as natural filters by removing pollutants such as fine sediment and excess nutrients from the water.

“But they also have another critical job – mitigating climate change by storing 400 million tonnes of carbon which is the equivalent weight of eight Sydney Harbour bridges,” said Sarah Ireland, Great Barrier Reef Foundation chief of communications and growth.

“However, this ecosystem is under threat from climate change and there are areas that are struggling to recover from increasingly severe and frequent storms, floods, and cyclones such as Cyclone Jasper and Kirrily that impacted the Reef last summer.

“This newly expanded seagrass nursery will see restoration scaled up significantly using an innovative seed-based method pioneered at the facility to help repair critical ecosystems while unlocking the Great Barrier Reef’s potential to mitigate the impacts of climate change.”

The grand opening of SeaGrow also marks a “major milestone” in the partnership between the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and the Coles Group, whose head of sustainability governance and engagement, Anna Stewart, noted just how vital seagrass meadows are for Reef resilience.

“They are important feeding grounds for marine animals and they also help to increase biodiversity, improve water quality and protect shorelines,” she said. “We look forward to the learnings that will be made at this state-of-the-art site, which we hope will ensure the Reef can be enjoyed for generations to come.”

The increasing impact of climate change and water quality is something that has been felt by seagrass meadows worldwide. As a cornerstone species to the marine environment and ecosystem, seagrass shares similar properties to kelp which drew the attention of leading scientists from across the globe when an open letter was presented to world leaders gathered at COP29 this month, calling for greater efforts to protect and restore populations within our ocean.

It’s hoped that SeaGrow will now play an important role in building the health and resilience of these important marine environments globally and the nursery will become an integral part of a Global Seagrass Nursery Network.

Click here for more from the Oceanographic Newsroom.