The goal of the project “Nature based Solutions for Mitigation of Watershed Pollution: Cross-habitat facilitation by coastal seagrass meadows” (SOMWAT) is to assess the role of seagrass meadows for reducing watershed pollution in Tanzania and South Africa, thereby improving livelihoods of local communities.

Coastal habitats like mangroves, corals or seagrasses provide numerous livelihood benefits for local populations. Despite their importance, threats like climate change and pollution have led to degradation at an ever-increasing rate. Conservation and restoration efforts frequently show low long-term success rates.

SOMWAT especially looks at the role of seagrasses in this context. Seagrasses are well known for their ability to decrease anthropogenic pollution, thereby indirectly facilitating resilience in connected coastal habitats such as sponge gardens or coral and bivalve reefs. Understanding the potential of seagrasses to counteract these impacts will have great benefits for the management of adjacent reef areas. This in turn will also benefit local populations that rely on these habitats for their ecosystem goods and services.

Both field surveys and experiments will help to unravel underlying mechanisms through which seagrasses can enhance water quality and thereby benefit local communities that rely on healthy ecosystems for food production and tourism. The surveys and experiments will be conducted in collaboration with stakeholders, NGOs and local authorities in order to address the needs of local populations.