SeaStore: Protection and reintroduction of seagrass meadows in the southern Baltic Sea

Seagrass meadows promote biodiversity and provide important ecosystem services (ES) such as carbon sequestration and sediment stabilisation, which is of great importance for coastal protection.

For this reason, there is great interest in the restoration of previously lost seagrass meadows in the German Baltic Sea. The SeaStore project, which will enter its fourth year of research in 2024, will create the scientific basis for this. The main objective of the SeaStore project is to develop a comprehensive guideline for the protection, conservation and restoration of seagrass meadows in the southern Baltic Sea. This will help authorities and other stakeholders to evaluate, plan, successfully implement and document seagrass restoration projects. The guide will cover relevant aspects of seagrass restoration: from choosing the right sites and suitable seeds or shoots, to guidelines on how they should be planted, to monitoring success and the involvement of coastal communities and other stakeholders in restoration projects to increase their chances of success and public acceptance.

In the SeaStore consortium, scientists from the fields of ecology, coastal engineering, biogeochemistry, microbiology, stakeholder processes and materials science work hand in hand.

Project partners

Ludwig Franzius Institute of Hydraulic, Estuarine and Coastal Engineering (LUH)
Technische Universität Berlin (Institute of Ecology)
GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
University of Greifswald (Institute for Microbiology and Institute for Botany and Landscape Ecology)
Leibniz-Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (Biogeochemistry)
Christian- Albrechts Universität zu Kiel (Department of Geography)
EUCC – Die Küsten Union Deutschland e.V.