CQUniversity unveils world’s largest purpose-built seagrass restoration nursery
The world’s largest purpose-built seagrass restoration nursery has opened in Gladstone, significantly boosting efforts to repair and build the resilience of this critical ecosystem and helping unlock the Great Barrier Reef’s potential to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Located at CQUniversity’s Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre (CMERC), the nursery unveiling is the first stage of the $15 million CMERC redevelopment, funded by Coles Group and the Federal Government to develop evidence-based, innovative research solutions to shape sustainable coastal futures.
CMERC Director Professor Emma Jackson said the nursery had been three years in the making and would be transformative in enhancing degraded seagrass meadows and helping to build their resilience against the increasing impacts of climate change.
“Seeds collected from nurseries are used to re-seed damaged or fragmented meadows, helping to improve their overall condition and resilience,” Professor Jackson explained.
“Our new nursery - which is the largest of its type in the world - will enhance our capacity for seagrass restoration while also providing more accessibility for local community and schools to visit and learn about this important habitat.”
The SeaGrow nursery is funded by Coles Group’s partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and has also received support through the Reef Coastal Restoration Program that is funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust.
Prof. Jackson said that through the nursery, CMERC would work with Traditional Owners as custodians of Land and Sea Country to deliver restoration activities and build capacity.
“We are grateful to both the Coles Group and the Australian Government's Reef Trust for their support of the nursery. This support has allowed us to transform the seagrass nursery into a state-of-the-art facility, far beyond what we initially envisioned. This remarkable upgrade will elevate our restoration research efforts with positive outcomes for coastal seagrasses and the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem,” she said.
“This collaboration underscores our commitment to integrating traditional ecological knowledge with scientific practices. Community members can also volunteer to help collect seagrass flowers – which we are in fact doing today.”
Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef Senator Nita Green said the seagrass restoration nursery would play a significant role in ensuring the Reef’s viability for generations to come.
“The Australian Government is proud to support the unveiling of the Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre seagrass nursery at CQUniversity in Gladstone today,” Senator Green said.
“If we protect the Reef, we protect our future. That is why we committed more than $15 million to develop this facility, which will undertake critical scientific work to improve the Reef.
“As well as a crucial investment for our amazing natural environment and the communities that rely on it, this will support the entire Queensland – and Australian – economy.”
Great Barrier Reef Foundation Chief of Communications and Growth Sarah Ireland said the role of seagrass in sustaining the Great Barrier Reef and supporting the health of coastal habitats was absolutely critical.
“As home to the world’s largest seagrass ecosystem, the Reef’s meadows provide nurseries and food sources for endangered species like turtles and dugongs whilst acting as natural filters by removing pollutants such as fine sediment and excess nutrients from the water,” Ms Ireland said.
“But they also have another critical job – mitigating climate change by storing 400 million tonnes of carbon which is the equivalent weight of eight Sydney Harbour bridges,” she said.
“However, this ecosystem is under threat from climate change, and there are areas struggling to recover from increasingly severe and frequent storms, floods and cyclones such as Cyclone Jasper and Kirrily that impacted the Reef last summer.
“This new expanded seagrass nursery will see restoration scaled up significantly using an innovative seed-based method pioneered at the facility, to help repair critical ecosystems whilst unlocking the Great Barrier Reef’s potential to mitigate the impacts of climate change.”
Coles Group Head of Sustainability Governance and Engagement Anna Stewart said today marked a major milestone in Coles’ partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
“We’re so pleased to have played a role in launching the world’s largest seagrass nursery. We know seagrass meadows are vital for the Reef’s resilience – they are feeding grounds for marine animals and they also help to increase biodiversity, improve water quality and protect shorelines,” she said.
“We look forward to the learnings that will be made at this state-of-the-art site, which we hope will help ensure the Reef can be enjoyed for generations to come.”
Professor Jackson said the increasing impact of climate change and water quality had been felt by seagrass meadows worldwide.
“Initiatives such as this play an important role in building the health and resilience of these important marine environments globally and the nursery is part of a Global Seagrass Nursery Network.”
CMERC is funded by the Australian Government's Reef Trust, explore its research impact on the CMERC website.
