The Green Blue have been highlighting the importance of boating sustainably to visitors and competitors at SailGP, in Plymouth.
SailGP is renowned for pushing the boundaries, experimenting with new technologies and looking towards the future – and the weekend of 17-18 July was no different. The Green Blue, the environmental programme for the Royal Yachting Association and British Marine, joined forces at the event with the Ocean Conservation Trust to showcase the ground-breaking work of the LIFE ReMEDIES Project.
The Project, which is aimed at restoring seagrass beds through re-seeding and education, has recently reached an exciting re-seeding milestone and the two organisations, which are part of a wider partnership between Natural England, Plymouth City Council and Marine Conservation Society, were sharing updates on the re-seeding with visitors.
Visitors to the stand were able to gain a taste of the re-seeding process with the stand’s hands-on activity – Wildflower Seed Bombs. Young and old alike were invited to mimic the re-seeding process practised by the project by making a mixture of seeds, soil and clay and placing this in a hessian bag to take away and re-plant at home.
Across the weekend, the LIFE ReMEDIES stand also live streamed footage directly from the seagrass seabed at Jenny Cliff Bay to share with visitors at the event. The underwater drone, which travelled to approximately 9 metres beneath the water, captured footage of an array of local marine life.
Commenting on the event, Kate Fortnam, The Green Blue Campaign Manager, said: “The SailGP racetrack in Plymouth was adjacent to the re-seeding site and the Voluntary no Anchor Zone at Jenny Cliff Bay so the location of the event has been a great opportunity to draw attention to the important work being undertaken in the area to restore and conserve seagrass habitats. It has been fantastic to be able to share the work of the LIFE ReMEDIES Project with event visitors and we hope that through both the live streaming from the seabed and the Wildflower Seed Bombs, we have been able to bring the project’s activities and aims alive for visitors.”
Loveday Trinick, Education Officer at the Ocean Conservation Trust, said: “With this amazing sailing event right on the doorstep of Plymouth Sound National Marine Park, it was a great opportunity to speak about the work of Life Recreation ReMEDIES with visitors. There were opportunities to replicate seagrass restoration work by making wildflower seed bombs, and a live view of the seabed provided by Plymouth City Council and North Devon Marine. Everyone was able to get an insight into the work ReMEDIES is doing to save our seabed.”
You can find out more about the LIFE ReMEDIES Project by visiting our ‘Initiatives and Projects’ page.