January 2026
In 2026 we WILL CONTINUE OUR SEAGRASS restoration activities AT ALL THREE SITES: the nationaal Park Oosterschelde, le Parc naturel marin du Bassin d’Arcachon AND l’Étang de Berre.
January was a dominated by administrative tasks as we prepared for the Kick Off meeting of Interreg NWE REBORN which runs from November 2025 through until June 2029. Rijksuniversiteit Groningen is the Lead Partner for the project which brings together 11 partners from across 5 nations (Ireland, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany) to foster greater collaboration for seagrass restoration in North-West Europe.
February 2026
February began with the Interreg NWE approved projects seminar in Lille (10th-11th) before the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen hosted the Interreg NWE REBORN kickoff meeting at De Herdershut, from the 17th-20th February on the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog. A summary of the REBORN project can be read on the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration website here.
March 2026
From 17-20 March we planted our Zostera noltii seeds at our restoration site at Roelshoek and our Zostera marina seeds at our restoration site at Oude Tonge. Both of these sites are within the National Park Oosterschelde.
Then from 24th-27th March we did some further monitoring and baseline sampling of the sediment microbiome at our Zostera noltii restoration site at Batidou in the Étang de Berre. The sun was out so these new seagrass patches were producing a lot of oxygen bubbles! In May we will transplant further Zostera noltii seagrass sods into this site, and then will ultimately resample the sediment microbiome to see how it changes before and after restoration (e.g. first without, and then with, seagrass).
April 2026
A major focus for April was site reconnaissance for potential seagrass sites across North-West Europe as part of REBORN. First up was a trip to the Wadden Sea National Park in Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany (left image), before later visiting Nieuwpoort (central image) and Oostende (right image), both potential future seagrass sites in Belgium.
May 2026
In the first week of May, as part of REBORN, the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen team hosted Juan Lugilde Yáñez from the University of Galway, Ireland so he could participate and be trained in our large-scale Zostera noltii seagrass transplanting methods in the National Park Oosterschelde.
The following week, again as part of REBORN, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen then hosted Dr Riccardo Pieraccini and colleagues from the Universiteit Gent to set up a collaborative seed study – we’re together to optimise seed-based restoration for both Zostera marina and Zostera noltii.
During the last two weeks of May, in the Étang de Berre GIPREB began their annual seagrass restoration weeks, aided once again by the Sea Ranger Service.
June 2026
On the 1st of June the European Seagrass Restoration Alliance published the European Seagrass Recommendations 2026. The document, co-created by representatives from 20 European countries, represents a consensus policy document that presents eight science-backed recommendations for the future of seagrass restoration in Europe. Laura and RJ delivered this document to the Directorate-General for Environment on the 4th of June in Brussels.
In the second week of June, Florine, Laura, RJ and Bai (Sea Ranger Service) traveled to Niedersachsen in Germany to visit REBORN partners ‘The Lower Saxon Department for Water, Coastal and Nature Conservation’ (German: Niedersächsischer Landesbetrieb für Wasserwirtschaft, Küsten- und Naturschutz or simply NLWKN). Here we visited two potential pilot sites, Bensersiel and Solthörner Watt to understand more about the historical dynamics of these Wadden Sea seagrass meadows.
In the third week of June, RJ traveled to Galway in Ireland to visit REBORN partners the University of Galway and Natural Capital Ireland. Here we visited the Irish REBORN pilot site Killala Bay and monitored the transplants that were undertaken here as part of the EU funded project CLIMAREST (Grant Agreement No. 101093865). On the 16th of June RJ presented the European Seagrass Recommendations 2026 as part of a Documentary Premiere and Poster Launch.
Seagrass: The Hidden Life Beneath Our Shores
Film by Zero Waste Alliance Ireland (ZWAI) in collaboration with University of Galway. Directed and produced by Órla Coutin Fitzsimons.
July 2026
Coming in July…
August 2026
Coming in August…
September 2026
Coming in September…
October 2026
Coming in October…
November 2026
Coming in November…
December 2026
Coming in December…