Seagrass conservation just took a direct hit. In August 2026, a marine heatwave wiped out a 500,000-seed restoration planting in North Wales within days, leaving a single surviving shoot on otherwise bare sand. The scientist behind that project, Dr. Richard Unsworth, has spent more than 20 years building a career, and a global charity, around an ecosystem most people can't even name.
Unsworth is an Associate Professor of marine ecology at Swansea University and Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Project Seagrass, the charity behind the UK's largest seagrass restoration program. His research spans more than two decades across Europe, Australia, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia, including fieldwork in Indonesia since 2004 studying how seagrass supports local fisheries and food security. Two of his students, Benjamin Jones and Richard Lilley, carried that work into Project Seagrass when the organization formed in 2013, on the founding observation that no one knows what seagrasses are. Since then, the charity has built the UK's first dedicated seagrass nursery, created the citizen-science app Seagrass Spotter, and published more than 140 academic papers, with Unsworth serving as Chief Scientific Officer alongside Chief Conservation Officer Benjamin Jones and CEO Dr. Leanne Cullen-Unsworth.
Seagrass holds more biodiversity than coral reefs, stabilizes shorelines, and supports fisheries, but it rarely draws the funding or headlines that whales, sharks, and reefs get. After the August heatwave, Unsworth's team didn't walk away, they identified a more temperature-resilient site near Holyhead and kept planting. Host Andrew Lewin makes the case for funding the unglamorous habitats too, not just the ones that photograph well.
Chapters:
2:17 - Obscure Habitats Struggle for Funding and Recognition
4:22 - Snorkeling With Nephews and Daughters in Mexico
7:16 - 2013: Project Seagrass Forms
9:31 - A Marine Heatwave Hits
12:02 - Why Seagrass Doesn't Make Headlines, But Should
Takeaways:
A marine heatwave in August 2026 destroyed a 500,000-seed seagrass restoration planting at Traeth Crugan in North Wales within days, leaving one surviving shoot.
Dr. Richard Unsworth is an Associate Professor at Swansea University and Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Project Seagrass.
He has more than 20 years of seagrass research experience across Europe, Australia, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia, including fieldwork in Indonesia since 2004.
Project Seagrass formed in 2013, gained charity status in 2015, and built the UK's first dedicated seagrass nursery.
The charity created the citizen-science app Seagrass Spotter and has published more than 140 academic papers.
After the heatwave setback, the team identified a more temperature-resilient site near Holyhead to continue restoration work.
Seagrass holds more biodiversity than coral reefs and supports fisheries and shoreline stability, but receives far less funding and public attention.
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