Did you know that Raglan has 9.6 hectares of seagrass, thanks to Harbourcare's riparian planting and fencing. Harbourcare has grown and planted over a million trees along streams and coastal areas in our catchment, cleaning up our catchment and creating better habitat for all species from fish to seagrass.
And seagrass may have more appeal than you have realized...
According to a recent article in the New Scientist publication:
"They may be trickier than trees for environmental protesters to chain themselves to, but it turns out that seagrass ecosystems hold as much carbon per hectare as the world's forests – and are now among its most threatened ecosystems... An international team of researchers estimated that seagrass captures 27.4 million tonnes of carbon each year, burying it in the soil below. And unlike forests that hold carbon for about 60 years then release it again, seagrass ecosystems have been capturing and storing carbon since the last ice age."
Read the article online here:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21825-mowing-down-seagrass-meadows-will-cut-loose-carbon.html
Photos from Harbourcare's website:
