Seagrass restoration

what we do

Seagrass Restoration

Seagrass meadows are among the most overlooked blue carbon ecosystems. They store carbon in their root systems for centuries, and act as nursery habitat for the fish stocks coastal communities depend on. Twende Green Planet’s Seagrass Restoration work assesses damaged meadows along Kenya’s coast and restores them using transplanting and protection methods matched to each site, an approach designed to extend beyond Kenya as Twende’s Pan-African restoration work grows.

Before any restoration begins, we assess what’s damaging a meadow: anchoring, trawling, sedimentation or nutrient run-off, since restoration only holds if the underlying cause is addressed.

• Meadow health and species assessment
• Identifying the cause of seagrass loss at each site
• Water quality and sediment condition checks
• Restoration feasibility and site prioritisation

We use the technique best suited to each site: transplanting healthy shoots into damaged areas, or seed-based restoration where transplanting risks disturbing an existing meadow.

• Shoot and rhizome transplanting from healthy donor meadows
• Seed-based restoration for larger or fragile sites
• Sediment stabilisation ahead of planting
• Staged planting to match seasonal growth conditions
• Community dive and snorkel teams trained in transplanting

A restored meadow only survives if the pressures that damaged it in the first place (anchoring, trawling) are managed going forward.

• No-anchor and no-trawl zones agreed with local fisherfolk
• Community-led meadow patrols and reporting
• Fisherfolk engagement on why seagrass supports their own catch
• Signage and boundary marking at restoration sites
• Alternative mooring points where anchoring damage is highest

Seagrass recovers slowly, so monitoring runs for years, not months, tracking both meadow health and the carbon case for continued investment.

• Seasonal meadow density and coverage surveys
• Carbon stock estimation aligned to recognised blue carbon methodologies
• Fish and invertebrate population monitoring as a health indicator
• Reporting shared with community stewards and funding partners
• Long-term trend tracking across multiple restoration seasons

What Seagrass Restoration Covers

From Damaged Meadow to Protected Habitat

Every meadow moves through four connected stages:

Identifying what damaged a meadow before restoration begins.

Restoration technique matched to each site’s condition.

No-anchor zones and patrols agreed with local fisherfolk.

Multi-year tracking of meadow health and carbon stock.

Why This Works

Protecting the Habitat Kenya’s Fisheries Depend On

Seagrass restoration is slow, unglamorous work, which is exactly why so little of it gets done. We treat the fisherfolk who use these waters as partners in protecting them, not bystanders.

• Nursery habitat for the fish stocks local fisherfolk already depend on, so restoration pays for itself in catch, not just carbon
• No-anchor and no-trawl zones agreed with, not imposed on, local fishing communities
• Carbon stored in root systems for centuries once a meadow is established
• Complements our mangrove work as part of one connected coastal ecosystem

Why This Works

Frequently Asked Questions

Seagrass meadows store carbon in their root systems for centuries and act as nursery habitat for fish, making them both a climate asset and a fisheries asset at once.

By transplanting healthy shoots and rhizomes into damaged areas, or seeding larger sites, matched to what’s actually causing the damage at each location.

Seagrass recovers slowly. Meaningful meadow recovery is typically measured in years, which is why long-term monitoring matters more here than almost anywhere else in our work.

The goal is the opposite of restricting fishing: healthier seagrass means healthier fish stocks. No-anchor and no-trawl zones are agreed with local fisherfolk, not imposed on them.

Through seasonal density and coverage surveys combined with carbon stock estimation aligned to recognised blue carbon methodologies.

Both are part of Twende Green Planet’s wider Coastal Ecosystem Restoration approach, where mangroves and seagrass meadows are treated as one connected coastal system, not separate efforts.

The Habitat

Carbon Storage That Also Sustains Local Fisheries