World Seagrass Day- March 1st

• The first ever World Seagrass Day was celebrated on March 1 to raise awareness about seagrass and its important functions in the marine ecosystem.
• It was declared by the United Nations General Assembly on May 22, 2022, following a resolution passed by Sri Lanka to emphasize the conservation of seagrass in marine environments.

About Seagrass

• Seagrass is a flowering marine plant present along coastlines worldwide, acting as a crucial source of food for marine life and helping stabilize water quality.
  • Except for Antarctica, various types of seagrass are found on coastlines around the world.
• There are currently 72 recorded types of seagrass in the world, covering an area of around 300,000 square kilometers in 159 countries.
• Seagrass evolved around 100 million years ago when most plant life was still found underwater. Over the course of its evolution, it has adapted to living and reproducing in various marine environments, bending and swaying with currents and dispersing its pollen through the water.
• Seagrass provides an important source of food for marine life.
• Seagrass acts as nursery habitats for commercially harvested fish and helps improve the water quality of the environment it inhabits.
• Seagrass sediments contain nearly twice the amount of carbon per area compared with land soil.
• It stores up to 18% of the world’s oceanic carbon, which is greater than the percentage stored by rainforests. This function makes it a key influence in battling the effects of climate change.