REVIEW article

Front. Mar. Sci.

Sec. Marine Ecosystem Ecology

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1505222

This article is part of the Research TopicDegradation, Conservation and Ecological Restoration of Seagrass Beds under Intensifying Global ChangesView all 9 articles

Seagrass Restoration in the Greater Southeast Asia Region: techniques, species, survival, comparisons among investigations

Provisionally accepted
Anitra  ThorhaugAnitra Thorhaug1,2*Jennifer  Joan VerduinJennifer Joan Verduin3Wawan  KiswaraWawan Kiswara4,5Anhana  PrathepAnhana Prathep6Xiaoping  HuangXiaoping Huang7John  Barry GallagherJohn Barry Gallagher8Tzuen-Kiat  YapTzuen-Kiat Yap9Rohani  Ambo-RappeRohani Ambo-Rappe10Susan  E. DorwardSusan E. Dorward11Arthur  SchwarzArthur Schwarz12Graeme  P. BerlynGraeme P. Berlyn13
  • 1Greater Caribbean Energy and Environment Foundation, Miami, United States
  • 2Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
  • 3Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
  • 4Oceanography Research Center, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 5Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 6Seaweed and Seagrass Research Unit, Prince of Songkla University, Kho Hong, Thailand
  • 7Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
  • 8Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, College of Sciences and Engineering, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
  • 9Borneo Marine Research Institute, University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
  • 10Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Marine Science and Fisheries, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia
  • 11Carbon Manager, Facilities & Grounds, Raritan Valley Community College, New Jersey, United States
  • 12Department of Biological Sciences, Southwestern Adventist University, Keene, United States
  • 13School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

The Greater Southeast Asian region contains the largest global extent of tropical seagrass, however anthropogenic degradation is estimated greater than 7% yr -1 . Although the areal extent of seagrass is presently 36,765 km 2 , Fortes et al. ( 2022) estimate that 50% of the original seagrass has been degraded from a variety of impacts. One set of solutions to degradation is to restore tropical seagrass successfully, for which information from past results is needed to avoid failures. Van Katwijk et al (2016) provided a global seagrass restoration review of 1786 trials, but did not include the full Southeast Asian regional information. Thus, we review findings from 228 trials in the greater Southeast Asian region, involving 305,807 restored units with an extent of 372,649 m 2 . Seagrasses planted with varying success include 13 tropical species and five subtropical or near-subtemperate species. We compare methodologies as well as key factors of light level, energetics, and depth. This review demonstrates highest survival in seagrass restoration employing sprigs or plugs at medium depths (2-4m) with adequate light levels in medium to low energetics planting one to several dominant species. Substrate anchors improved successful establishment. Information gaps occur in quantified monitoring of seagrass services reassembled with tropical-seagrass restoration thus fisheries nursery potentials not provided. Future actions need national seagrass restoration policies and plans to restore degraded seagrasses. Presently such policies and plans are non-existent in most greater Southeast Asian regional nations, with the exceptions of Australia and the Philippines, although some nations have national plans for restoring corals or mangroves.

Keywords: Seagrass restoration, Seagrass restoration in Souteast Asian region, Seagrass Restoration Enhalus acoroides, Seagrass restoration Thalassia hemprechii, Seagrass restoration southeast asia survival and success, Seagrass restoration Halophila ovalis

Received: 02 Oct 2024; Accepted: 08 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Thorhaug, Verduin, Kiswara, Prathep, Huang, Gallagher, Yap, Ambo-Rappe, Dorward, Schwarz and Berlyn. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Anitra Thorhaug, Greater Caribbean Energy and Environment Foundation, Miami, United States

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.