PROTECTING OUR POSIDONIA

Photo by Benjamin L. Jones on Unsplash

MAY 8th, 2023

Enjoying the crystal-clear waters of the Mediterranean is one of the pleasures of being in Mallorca, and it’s thanks to the seagrass Posidonia – one of the oldest living organisms on the planet – that the waters around our island are so appealing. The underwater Posidonia meadows are known as “the lungs of the Mediterranean”: they help maintain the biodiversity and transparency of the sea – and produce about half of the oxygen we breathe. If you’ve spotted strange, brown balls on the beach, you’ve seen dead seagrass that’s been washed ashore.

This underwater ecosystem is threatened by invasive species of algae and damage to the Posidonia meadows by boat anchors and chains, which makes it vital to raise awareness of the importance of this seagrass.

And thanks to a group of secondary school students from the eco-school Escola Global international school in Palma’s ParcBit, you can find out more about keeping the Posidonia healthy – and our sea looking beautiful. The school’s goal is to educate global citizens to be kind, compassionate, and respectful of nature, and its project, ‘Our young reporters and the sea’, has seen students research and learn about marine life and promote awareness of it through their journalistic skills; you can read their interesting and informative posts – in English – on the Escola Global website’s Eco-Blog.

The school and students worked in collaboration with Med Gardens – part of the Cleanwave Foundation – and you´ll find links to the Escola Global Eco-Blog and Med Gardens right down here.