The research found that at least 18 million people living in poverty fish in seagrass meadows across the Indo-Pacific. Of these, around 6.5 million are entirely dependent on the habitat for both food and fishing-related income.
The study also revealed that households living in extreme poverty were significantly more likely to rely on seagrass meadows for all their fishing activities. Seagrass-dependent households earned around 23% less than other fishers, suggesting that reliance on these fisheries may trap some households in a cycle of coastal poverty.
Led by scientists from Project Seagrass, including Swansea University’s Dr Richard Unsworth, the study highlights the crucial role that seagrass ecosystems play in supporting some of the world’s most vulnerable coastal communities.
Seagrasses are flowering plants that form extensive underwater meadows along shallow coastlines. Although often overshadowed by more widely recognised ecosystems such as coral reefs or tropical forests, seagrass meadows support accessible fisheries that can be reached on foot or with minimal equipment, making them particularly important for households with few alternative sources of income or food. Women and other marginalised groups frequently play central roles in these fisheries.
Dr Benjamin Jones, Chief Conservation Officer at Project Seagrass, said: “This study changes how the world needs to see seagrass. These aren’t just meadows for fish, for turtles or carbon. They’re hidden safety nets for millions of people.
“When seagrass disappears, it’s not just nature that’s lost. Food, income and security disappear with it, often for the people least responsible for its decline and least able to adapt. Seagrass loss is a direct threat to food security, livelihoods and justice across some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable coastlines.”
The researchers say seagrass conservation should be better integrated into poverty alleviation and sustainable development policies. Failing to recognise the role of these ecosystems could deepen coastal poverty and worsen food insecurity, undermining progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on ending poverty and hunger.
Dr Leanne Cullen-Unsworth, Chief Executive Officer at Project Seagrass, said: “More than 20 years ago in Indonesia, coastal communities and local colleagues helped me understand something that was still largely absent from global conservation debates: that some of the world’s poorest coastal communities were relying on seagrass meadows every day for food and income.
“Since then, many colleagues, collaborators and communities have contributed to building the evidence behind that relationship. This study allows us to see its scale for the first time.
“Behind these figures are millions of real people for whom seagrass loss isn’t an abstract environmental problem; it can mean the loss of food, income and security. That has profound implications for how the world thinks about seagrass conservation.”
Seagrass meadows throughout the Indo-Pacific face increasing pressure from coastal development, pollution and climate change. In many areas, the communities most dependent on these ecosystems have little influence over the decisions affecting their future.
The researchers say those dependencies are likely to intensify as population growth, widening inequalities and climate change place additional pressure on coastal communities.
Dr Richard Unsworth, Associate Professor of Biosciences at Swansea University and Chief Scientific Officer at Project Seagrass, said: “The world has largely treated seagrass loss as a specialist conservation problem. This study shows that it is also a development and food-security issue.
“Governments and international donors cannot credibly address coastal poverty while allowing the ecosystems underpinning local food systems to disappear.”