Eelgrass to Help Rejuvenate Osaka Bay

As part of a project for creating rich natural diving spots, volunteers have started planting eelgrass, a marine aquatic plant found in Osaka Bay, Osaka Prefecture. In December 2004, volunteer divers planted about one hundred eelgrass seedlings on the sea bed in Sennan City, Osaka. They also placed mats embedded with six thousand eelgrass seeds on the sea bottom.

Eelgrass beds are well-known as a rich habitat for aquatic life that also purifies water by absorbing contaminants such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Eelgrass used to grow prolifically in Osaka Bay, but pollution from domestic wastewater etc., made it very difficult for sea life to survive, especially in summer.

This project is being realized through the cooperation of a divers' nonprofit organization (NPO) in Osaka and another NPO that researches eelgrass. The divers' NPO came up with the idea and an offer to help carry out the project being proposed by the national and Osaka Municipal governments for the restoration of Osaka Bay's Coastal Zone with the cooperation of the eelgrass research group. Local fishing cooperatives helped out by providing suitable places in their fishing grounds to transplant eelgrass.

Even though planting eelgrass is only a small step, Osaka Municipal government's Planning Division hopes it will provide an opportunity for more and more people to become concerned about the restoration of Osaka Bay. They plan to monitor eelgrass growth until March 2005 and increase the number of transplanting sites if the eelgrass grows well.



Posted: 2005/08/15 08:28:15 PM
Japanese version