Seagrass meadows are critical nursery habitats for fish and feeding grounds for dugongs, turtles, and seahorses, declining from pollution and coastal development.
Fish species that begin their lives in seagrass nursery habitats and find them destroyed face mortality from predation and starvation in less protected environments. Dugongs and green turtles that depend on seagrass as their primary food source face nutritional stress when beds are depleted. Seahorses that inhabit seagrass beds and have very limited mobility are stranded when vegetation is removed. The welfare cascade from seagrass loss extends across the full diversity of species dependent on this foundational habitat. Seagrass restoration protects the welfare of all species that depend on it.