Seagrass meadows are among the most biodiverse and productive marine ecosystems, supporting thousands of species and providing welfare-relevant habitat and food resources.
Seagrass loss affects animal welfare by removing critical habitat structures that reduce predation risk, provide spawning sites and supply food resources. For species such as green turtles and dugongs that depend on seagrass as their primary food, meadow degradation directly causes nutritional stress and declining body condition. Juvenile fish using seagrass nurseries face significantly higher predation mortality when habitats are degraded. Seagrass restoration is therefore both an ecological and a welfare intervention, providing measurable benefits to the animals that depend on these ecosystems.