Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Restoring seagrass and saltmarsh habitats in Wales is crucial for tackling the climate and nature emergencies and is a Programme for Government (PfG) commitment. I am pleased to announce an additional £100,000 of funding to support the development of Seagrass Network Cymru’s (SNC) National Seagrass Action Plan in financial years 2024/25 and 2025/26.
Seagrass is a critically important habitat which brings many benefits to people and nature including carbon storage, flood protection and increasing biodiversity. This is why the Welsh Government has awarded almost £1.12 million of funding to seagrass and saltmarsh restoration projects since 2021 through the Nature Networks Programme and the Coastal Capacity Building scheme.
The National Seagrass Plan (NSAP) has been developed by Seagrass Network Cymru which comprises of a range of delivery partners including NGOs, academics and Natural Resources Wales. The NSAP will provide a strategic, longer term, coordinated programme or restoration, building upon our current work.
This additional funding will help Wales to halt seagrass loss and will support recovery of 266 hectares of seagrass by 2030, in line with our Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework “30x30” conservation targets
It will enable further support to identify evidence gaps enabling us to build on current regeneration work being undertaken along the Welsh coastline. It will also provide opportunities to build community awareness of the value of seagrass and nature-based solutions more broadly, as we continue to respond to the climate and nature crisis. Project Seagrass’s community focused approach will be expanded further to pilot areas in North Wales and Pembrokeshire to provide a blueprint for national implementation. This builds on existing work Welsh Government have funded through our Nature Networks Programme.
The funding will also help Seagrass Network Cymru develop a governance structure and financing model. This will enable the Network to access sustainable funding from a range of sources in both the public and private sectors to support the implementation of the action plan.
Increasing and diversifying the funding available is not only vital to effectively tackling both the nature and climate emergencies, but it can also support a range of sustainable green jobs in local communities across Wales. Seagrass restoration will draw on a wide range of roles from marine biologists and ecologists to communications and community engagement officers, supporting skills development and green jobs now and into the future.