This years subtidal seagrass planting campaign in Zeeland successfully completed

This June, The Fieldwork Company successfully completed this year’s seagrass restoration campaign in Zeeland. Together with a dedicated group of volunteers, students, and staff from consortium partners the University of Groningen and Witteveen+Bos, more than 21,000 seagrass shoots were planted in the Grevelingenmeer and Veerse Meer.

This year’s campaign focused both on scaling up restoration at previously successful locations and on testing new approaches to improve restoration effectiveness. Building on knowledge exchange with GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel and the SDU Sønderborg – University of Southern Denmark during the winter, several experimental elements were incorporated into the fieldwork. These included testing whether anchoring of seagrass transplants is necessary under local conditions in Zeeland, as well as trialling a new planting layout aimed at establishing cohesive seagrass meadows.

The outcomes of these experiments will help inform decisions on how best to design and implement seagrass restoration activities in 2026.

Field conditions during the campaign were excellent, allowing the team to work efficiently and complete all planting activities approximately one week ahead of schedule. With this successful campaign concluded, preparations are already underway for the next phase of restoration work.