This data has been developed to map areas that have the suitable environmental conditions for the predominantly subtidal seagrass species Zostera marina to grow. It has been developed to show where the environmental conditions may be suitable for seagrass restoration.
This map includes a combination of mapped areas of Zostera marina, habitat suitability model outputs and locations of suitable mapped habitat along the coast where the modelled outputs are absent. The data includes outputs from the JNCC Zostera marina habitat suitability model (Castle et al., 2022), Bertelli, C. Zostera habitat suitability (Bertelli et al., 2022), extracted data from JNCC's UKASH and NRW's section 7/OSPAR data.
It is important to note that the Zostera marina potential restoration areas have been produced using environmental variables only. Consideration has not been given to any human induced environmental (e.g. climate change, overexploitation, pollution etc.) or human capacity constraints (e.g. seabed use, licences, regulations and policies etc.) that may impact any restoration efforts. The outputs therefore represent a starting point in which to focus effort, with a view that further investigations will need to be undertaken before proceeding with a plan or project to restore or create Zostera marina habtiat in any given location.
Further work is being carried out by NRW in partnership with others to determine where these possible areas might be refined into more feasible as part of a wider work stream to deliver enhanced resilience of Welsh seas in line with the Environment Act objectives and Section 6 duty (‘to maintain and enhance resilience of ecosystems’). The wider programme will focus on co-development of tools including narratives, maps and data that identify and communicate where and what the most significant opportunities are to enhance the resilience of marine and coastal ecosystems in Wales.
