Bailiwick Eelgrass Exploration Project

Bailiwick Eelgrass Exploration Project has been nominated for Sustainability Hero of the Year

Shortened to Beep, this Bailiwick-wide citizen science project puts its free time into recording the state of eelgrass beds.

Eelgrass looks like long green blades of grass poking out of the sand and thrives in sheltered, sandy bays.

‘This vulnerable habitat is priceless for marine life and as such needs to be fully understood and protected,’ said its anonymous nominator for the Sustainable Hero award.

Since 2019, Beep’s volunteers, across both Alderney and Guernsey, have been gathering data on the presence, location, extent and composition of the plant and raising awareness of its importance.

Eelgrass is being increasingly recognised for its potential as a nature-based solution to climate change due to its ability to ‘lock away’ organic carbon. 

It has even found a place for itself in debates around solutions to coastal erosion.

Volunteer divers are also found amongst Beep’s ranks, giving up their free time to help Beep identify any human-induced impact on the eelgrass beds from things such as traditional boat moorings.

‘Over the next three years we will be looking to evaluate the ecological status and health of our eelgrass beds with citizen scientists, with the aim of providing recovery or restoration conservation measure recommendations,’ said Alderney coordinator Mel Broadhurst-Allen of the group’s expanding ambitions, showing that Beep is in for the sustainability long haul.

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