Opportunities and Challenges for Community-Based Seagrass Conservation

Seagrass meadows are important marine ecosystems, providing a range of services including carbon sequestration, nursery habitats for fish and coastal protection. They are suffering rapid global decline in the face of eutrophication and other pollution, damage caused by fishing activities, tourism and coastal development. Degradation and loss of seagrass meadows negatively impacts their ability to provide ecosystem services, which are often of vital importance to resource-poor communities such as local fishers who depend on seagrass ecosystems for sustenance and income. Community-based management (CBM) presents an opportunity for effective, efficient and socially just conservation of seagrass.