Project Seagrass at Stone Sailing Club

Published 13:40 on 18 Jun 2024

Stone Sailing Club were approached last year by Natural England, Project Seagrass and Essex Wildlife Trust to arrange a project/ initiative to raise the profile of Project Seagrass within our local community.
Seagrass meadows have the potential to sequester and store large quantities of the carbon dissolved in our ocean, often known as 'blue carbon'. Whilst seagrass occupies only 0.1% of the seafloor, they are responsible for up to 18% of the organic carbon buried in the ocean. Seagrass meadows are able to store carbon in their sediment, essentially 'locking' away large amounts of carbon and acting as a carbon store. If undisturbed, this carbon can be stored for millennia. When seagrass meadows are destroyed, the carbon that they have stored for potentially thousands of years is suddenly released back into the ocean and can become a significant carbon source. This is why it is vital to protect our existing seagrass meadows.

The St Lawrence Bay Seagrass Meadow lies just to the east of the club along the south shore between the two caravan parks. There are also areas north of Osea and at Southey Creek. It's important that we as water users and outdoor enthusiasts do all we can to nurture its development. It's a really big deal that our community is part of this international project.

As part of the project Stone Sailing Club will be hosting a two day event 24th & 25th July in partnership with Natural England, Project Seagrass, Essex Wildlife Trust, Essex Forest Initiative, Community Energy, Maldon District Council, Maldon Canoe Club, Hadleigh Park Cycles and other key players. This is about opening up the conversation on nature based solutions to climate change. We will be offering the whole community talks, exhibitions, workshops and other opportunities to get involved in helping our community in the drive to net zero. Headlining Wednesday evening 24th July, will be dynamic talk by Professor Jules Pretty Deputy Chair of the Government's Climate Committee on 'The Low Carbon Good Life', which I am very excited about.

https://www.projectseagrass.org/

I'm especially looking for volunteers on 24th and 25th July and in advance of the event and would be delighted to hear from you.
In the meantime, please enjoy learning about Project Seagrass especially here in St Lawrence Bay.

Look forward to hearing from you and your support.

Gilly Terkelsen

You can contact Gilly by clicking HERE

Tickets for the event are free. Reserve your place by clicking HERE

Last updated 13:12 on 5 September 2024