March 1 to be celebrated as ‘World Seagrass Day’

Muscat: The UN General Assembly had adopted on May 23, 2022 a resolution submitted by Sri Lanka declaring March 1 as the ‘World Seagrass Day’.

The landmark resolution was co-sponsored by 24 other member countries.

Accordingly, on March 1, 2023, the entire world marks the first ever ‘World Seagrass Day’.

Seagrasses are one of the most valuable marine ecosystems on earth covering around 300,000 square kilometres in 159 countries and six continents. They provide a range of critical environmental, economic and social benefits.

The most significant benefit being the enormous carbon sequestration potential of seagrasses, storing up to 18 percent of the world’s oceanic carbon, which is greater than that of rainforests which makes protection and restoration of seagrasses a vital tool in efforts to adapt and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.

The vital functions of seagrasses also include its role in stabilising the sea bottom and providing ecosystem support via food and shelter for a number of marine creatures, including commercial and recreational fish species, as well as endangered and charismatic species such as turtles, dugongs and manatees.

However, seagrass ecosystems are being destroyed as a result of human activity.

The United Nations Environment Programme Publication ‘Out of the Blue: the value of seagrasses to the environment and to people’ states that “7 per cent of seagrass marine habitat is being lost worldwide per year, which is equivalent to a football field of seagrass lost every 30 minutes”.

The UNGA resolution has attracted global interest with many countries and communities being sensitised to the importance of this vital ecosystem.

In Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Environment has given this day wide publicity among people of all walks of life, inclusive of young people, to create awareness of the contribution of seagrasses to the goals of climate preservation and sustainability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Embassy of Sri Lanka in the Sultanate of Oman also joins commemorating this important day in Muscat-Oman with a special awareness programme.