As much as 44% of the UK’s seagrass has been lost since the 1930s, due to human activity, pollution and disease. Yet, these blue meadows are vitally important for both marine biodiversity and carbon storage. Based in Plymouth, Ocean Conservation Trust is working to protect and regenerate existing seagrass and restore what has been lost. In total, it aims to scale seagrass restoration techniques to deliver around 50 hectares annually and is using Esri’s ArcGIS technology to help it achieve this laudable objective.

The charity uses ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online in the office to plan where to focus its restoration and protection efforts. It collates and analyses internal and third-party data on ocean habitats, coastal areas and species and uses the insight derived to plan locations for new seagrass surveys, for example. Similarly, it uses the map-based insights delivered by ArcGIS Online to decide where to put marker buoys to highlight the locations of seagrass meadows.

When working out on the ocean, the charity uses a configuration of ArcGIS Field Maps to record its survey locations and capture data in real time. Underwater pictures of quadrats (1 m2 sample areas) and data, such as substrate type and sea kelp detections, are captured in ArcGIS Field Maps on tablets, while on the boat. Estimates of seagrass cover are entered directly into ArcGIS Field Maps, enabling teams to visualise seagrass health in web maps.

Ocean Conservation Trust has also developed several ArcGIS Survey123 surveys for different groups of staff and volunteers. One particularly pivotal ArcGIS Survey123 survey is used in the charity’s seagrass nursery to record everything from leaf length to water chemistry at regular intervals, in a consistent way. Another ArcGIS Survey123 survey enables staff to log their use of the charity’s new van, in a fast and convenient digital process.

The charity is currently developing a series of ArcGIS dashboards, which will help it to share the information that it is collecting via ArcGIS Field Maps and ArcGIS Survey123, in a visual way, more broadly within the charity. “It’s an important next step for us,” explains Miriam Webborn, Habitat Monitoring Officer at Ocean Conservation Trust. “We aim to close the data loop, so the whole team can see the results of what they have been working on.”

Not content to stop here, however, the charity is also currently exploring how to use Sonardyne underwater GPS systems in conjunction with ArcGIS Online to map seagrass in unprecedented detail. Moreover, it is taking its first steps with ArcGIS StoryMaps to build interactive stories called ‘Deep Dives’ to help make people more aware of the importance of restoring seagrass meadows.

Cost effective conservation project planning
Using ArcGIS Online, Ocean Conservation Trust can plan seagrass monitoring or planting projects carefully in the office to enable them to be implemented efficiently when teams of divers, ecologists and boats head out to sea. “ArcGIS provides all the information that project teams need to plan activities, from the locations of reefs to ship wrecks and moorings,” explains Andy Cameron, Conservation Project Manager at Ocean Conservation Trust. “As a result, we do not waste time and money sending teams out to unsuitable locations.”

Improved monitoring of seagrass restoration schemes
Ocean Conservation Trust has improved the monitoring of its restoration schemes by using ArcGIS—both on land and sea. It is particularly notable that staff can view and analyse images and data about the seabed while afloat. “ArcGIS gives us an effective, spatial approach to measuring the impact of the Blue Meadows project,” Cameron says. “We can see precisely where new seagrass beds have been planted and monitor existing seagrass meadows over time to evidence improvements in this vitally important ocean habitat.”

More successful seagrass cultivation
Used in the charity’s seagrass nursery, ArcGIS Survey123 records the important data needed to improve the cultivation of seagrass plants, which are notoriously difficult to grow from seed. By capturing information on growing conditions in a consistent way in the app, staff and volunteers can now more easily determine the best growing conditions and, over time, increase the volume and health of plants available for replanting.

Effective engagement with volunteers
The use of ArcGIS Survey123 helps Ocean Conservation Trust to involve volunteers in its work in an effective and engaging way. For example, volunteers use an ArcGIS Survey123 form on clifftop walks to survey where pleasure boats are moored up in relation to seagrass conservation areas and assess how people interact with seagrass meadows. “Our new ArcGIS dashboards will also enable volunteers to see the data they collect in the context of the wider project and help them appreciate the value of their contribution,” notes Webborn.

Creative approaches to public education
Increasingly, Ocean Conservation Trust is using ArcGIS solutions to deliver more creative and persuasive public education initiatives about seagrass and ocean conservation in general. For instance, it built an ArcGIS Survey123 survey to capture information during an Ocean Literacy workshop that aimed to improve understanding of the ocean. The charity’s ArcGIS StoryMaps stories, when launched, will further support education and public engagement activities like this.