World Seagrass Day
Next: March 1, 2027
Meadows under the sea.
The story
Where it comes from
In May 2022 the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 76/265, proclaiming 1 March World Seagrass Day to raise awareness of seagrasses and encourage action to conserve them. Seagrasses are flowering plants that grow in shallow seas from the tropics to the Arctic Circle, forming underwater meadows. They feed and shelter thousands of species, from fish and seahorses to turtles, filter the water, store carbon and soften the waves that reach the shore.
How it's celebrated
Marine scientists, conservation groups and aquariums use the day to show people meadows that most of us have never noticed, through talks, surveys and school activities. Some teams replant seagrass where it has been lost, as researchers from Universiti Putra Malaysia have done in Johor. You can mark it by learning what grows off your nearest coast.
Did you know
- Seagrasses are not seaweeds but flowering plants that bloom and set seed under the sea.
- Seagrass meadows cover only about 0.1% of the ocean floor, yet they can store up to 18% of the ocean's carbon.
- At the Merambong shoal in Johor, between Malaysia and Singapore, dugongs swim in at high tide to graze, and their feeding trails show in the seagrass at low tide.
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