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Berlin / Rostock (dpa) - The Greens have called for better protection of seagrass meadows in the North and Baltic Seas.
"They belong to the so-called super ecosystems: They are a species-rich habitat and store climate-damaging CO2," said the nature conservation spokeswoman for the green parliamentary group, Steffi Lemke, on World Wetlands Day on Tuesday.
A new program from the Energy and Climate Fund was intended to protect or restore those parts of nature that are irreplaceable as carbon and water stores.
Seagrass meadows fulfill a variety of functions in the marine ecosystem.
"A seagrass meadow of one hectare can store the same amount of CO2 as ten hectares of forest," emphasized Lemke.
In this way, they make a contribution to reducing water pollution and are important food for numerous species as well as living and spawning areas.
After previously strong declines, the seagrass meadows in the German Wadden Sea have recovered slightly since the 1990s, said Lemke.
In the Baltic Sea there has been a sharp decline since the 1960s due to the high nutrient load.
However, a recovery can also be observed in the Baltic Sea.
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World Wetlands Day