Marine scientists are teaming up with local communities in Penghu to revive seagrass populations lost due to the impact of undersea excavation projects. There's hope that restoring marine plants will attract more sea life into the shallows around Penghu.
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00:00As the waters off Taiwan's outlying Penghu Islands recede with the tide, a team of volunteers
00:09ventures out into the exposed sea mud.
00:12Wielding handfuls of seagrass shoots, they're ready to restore life to these dying shallows.
00:27Gengzi Village was once a hotspot for seagrass, an often overlooked component of marine ecosystems
00:33that offers food and shelter to a wide range of sea life.
00:38But long-term excavation projects in the channels around Penghu have buried much of the seagrass
00:43under displaced sand.
00:45Enlisting the help of the local community, the Penghu Marine Biology Centre has made
01:02it their goal to restore these intertidal zones to their former glory.
01:07Several parts of the Penghu Island chain were designated seagrass protection zones back
01:12in 2022, but farming seagrass is no easy task.
01:26Certain shellfish harvesting tools have been prohibited to help protect the budding seagrass
01:32which, if allowed to thrive, would bring more than plant life back to these waters.
01:51With the combined efforts of marine scientists and local volunteers, there's hope yet that
01:56once thriving waters can again sustain an abundance of life.
02:01Fu Hua Heng, and Rhys Ayres for Taiwan Plus.