Singapore launches first seagrass restoration project to protect coastal ecosystems

Singapore begins inaugural seagrass restoration initiative
On May 29, a team of researchers and assistants began seagrass transplantation efforts at East Coast Park as part of Singapore’s first seagrass restoration project. The group collected and potted seagrass for relocation to the Sisters’ Islands, marking the start of a national initiative focused on understanding seagrass reproduction and developing sustainable transplantation practices.

The restoration project is co-led by Dr Samantha Lai, deputy director at the National Parks Board’s (NParks) National Biodiversity Centre, and Dr Ow Yan Xiang, senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI). Launched in September 2024 with nearly S$1 million in funding from OCBC Bank, the project aims to recover seagrass meadows and enhance marine biodiversity.


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Seagrass meadows offer critical ecosystem services, providing food and shelter for marine life, acting as nurseries for fish larvae, stabilizing sediment, and serving as carbon sinks. The project addresses the rapid annual loss of seagrass beds in Southeast Asia, estimated at 5 per cent.

Focus on seagrass reproduction and transplantation techniques
Dr Ow’s research, based at the St John’s Island National Marine Laboratory (SJINML), centers on the sexual reproduction cycles of tropical seagrass. Unlike their temperate counterparts, tropical species do not have well-documented flowering patterns. Singapore hosts 12 known seagrass species, but only two sickle seagrass (Thalassia hemprichii) and tape seagrass (Enhalus acoroides) and have well-characterized reproductive cycles.

“These two species tend to have longer lifespans and thus bigger biomasses, so their fruits and flowers are more visible,” said Dr Ow to The Straits Times. “But for the 10 other species we have in Singapore, we really have no idea when they flower.”

Dr Lai’s team is focused on refining transplantation methods to ensure seagrass survival. They pair donor and recipient sites with similar water, sediment quality, and hydrodynamic conditions to minimize shock during transplantation. The goal is to increase survival rates of transplanted seagrass, which have historically been low due to human activity or marine life such as crabs.

Monitoring and challenges of seagrass transplantation
The research team monitors newly transplanted meadows using leaf length measurements and pulse-amplitude modulated fluorometers, which assess the plants' photosynthetic activity. The team works during low tide periods, typically lasting about two hours, and often faces weather-related challenges such as thunderstorms.

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Dr Lai noted that in one transplant site, nearly all leaves had disappeared within two weeks, but added that the rhizomes appeared healthy. “The seagrass may grow back,” she said to The Straits Times.

Beyond ecosystem support, seagrass meadows reduce coastal erosion through their underground root systems and rhizomes, while also capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide. “Seagrasses punch above their weight,” said Dr Ow. “They occupy such a small area of our ocean space, just 0.1 per cent, but they provide so many ecosystem functions.”

Public engagement and future coastal development plans
Singapore’s seagrass restoration efforts coincide with upcoming coastal development initiatives, including land reclamation. Dr Lai highlighted that the restoration project is taking place at a site reclaimed in the 1960s and 1970s, where seagrass has since regrown. “This gives us hope that when we do the future Long Island reclamation, we can recreate these habitats to get the species to come back,” she said.

Volunteers will play a key role in expanding restoration efforts. NParks’ Team Seagrass citizen science program, established in 2007, monitors seagrass meadows in Chek Jawa, Pulau Semakau, and Cyrene Reef. These volunteer-led efforts will support transplant activities at future sites.

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Public participation has been strong. “Growing up in an urbanised society, most of us really have no opportunity to go out and look at what’s happening at our coastlines,” said Dr Ow. “But I think it is very encouraging, having the public show more awareness not just of the seagrass, but also the natural coastal ecosystems that we have, that really helps to let policymakers know that this is what people care about.”