A site near Laugharne is at the forefront of efforts to restore lost seagrass meadows in the UK.

As much as 92 per cent of the UK's seagrass meadows have been lost since 1936.

Salix, an RSK Group company, is carrying out development work near Laugharne in partnership with Project Seagrass.

Project Seagrass has attracted support from international environmental and climate change groups, with UK band Coldplay among its patrons.

The aim is to grow and supply seagrass plants and seeds for restoration schemes throughout the UK.

Salix technical director David Holland said: "A vital part of this ambitious goal to rejuvenate seagrass meadows around our coastline has been the development of a seagrass nursery facility to supply seeds and mature plants to projects throughout the UK.

"Without a reliable supply of local provenance seed and mature seagrass plants, restoration efforts will be limited."

The project is based on a formerly abandoned aquaculture site.

Salix and Project Seagrass have invested in establishing the seagrass nursery on this inland site, supported by an Ofwat Innovation project.

Mr Holland said: "Growing seagrass at this scale had never been done before in the UK.

"We were the first nursery to work in this area, and the project is constantly evolving and expanding.

"We have housed all the seeds for Project Seagrass projects, and this year (2023/24) we are housing more than 1.4 million seeds from locations around the UK, which will contribute to restoration efforts."

Salix is also growing freshwater pond plants and is the UK's only nursery growing salt marsh plants on a commercial scale.

As the UK aims to restore 30 km² of seagrass by 2030, providing plants and seeds for restoration plays a critical role in advancing the science behind seagrass restoration.

Mr Holland said: "Alongside our own project work, we would like to use the centre to support and help others in their work to restore seagrass.

"We can do this by supplying seagrass seeds, plants and guidance to other community and institution-led restoration projects across the UK.

"This will empower other organisations and communities and create a bit of a seagrass movement for the UK.

"That’s the key to achieving real success at scale, which will help us to achieve really significant climate change mitigation."

Project Seagrass founding director and chief scientific officer Richard Unsworth said: "As we lose our seagrass, we lose the species that make this habitat their home, including some of the UK’s largest commercial fisheries species that rely on seagrass meadows as nursery grounds.

"This nursery gives us an opportunity to reverse the decline and restore this critical habitat, preserving the numerous benefits that seagrass meadows provide to people and the planet.

"The Project Seagrass nursery is now the ‘go to’ for nursery developments elsewhere, with regular requests from international parties for visits to try to improve or set up their own facilities using the same methods."