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Seagrass meadows are of high ecological importance, as they provide numerous advantages in the surrounding habitats. The anthropogenic impacts to which they are subjected cause the reduction of the grasslands. That is why, for some years now, the creation of monitoring and protection programs has been increasing.

Citizen participation campaigns are a useful tool to involve society in conservation. Promoting the participation of society in the conservation of seagrass meadows will increase knowledge of them and enhance the need for their protection among public opinion. The collaboration with sectors linked to seagrass meadows will allow key information to be obtained that would help to understand and quantify the socio-economic value generated by these habitats for local communities, which is a very relevant aspect to promote this greater social involvement in the conservation of seagrass meadows.

• Communicate and disseminate the project
• To transfer knowledge and disseminate the biodiversity, services and importance of the conservation of the meadows of Zostera marina and Zostera noltei on the Cantabrian-Atlantic coast.
• To apply a temporary monitoring programme for intertidal seagrass meadows in Galicia with regional educational centres to encourage the involvement of the educational community on the benefits and importance of seagrass conservation.
• To raise awareness in the fishing, shellfish and marine recreational activities sector in the compatibility of productive activity with the importance of the conservation of the seagrass meadows of the Cantabrian-Atlantic coast.

• AO: Dissemination and communication of the project. Action aimed at disseminating the actions and results of the project, both through the creation of a representative graphic image that identifies the project in the different materials and supports and through dissemination through the media, social networks and other means of access to society.
• A1: Compilation of information on the Cantabrian-Atlantic seagrass meadows. Search and compilation of a documentary corpus of knowledge on the Cantabrian-Atlantic seagrass meadows (biological and ecological characteristics, distribution area, conservation, etc.) that facilitates access to knowledge on the subject, for use in the different actions of the project and as a result of the project of free access to the whole society. It will be carried out through the team of documentalists of the Domingo Quiroga Environmental Documentation Center of CEIDA, the main environmental documentation center in Galicia and integrated into the RECIDA network.
• A2: Seminar on the conservation and future of seagrass meadows. Holding a technical-scientific seminar with experts of recognised prestige in the knowledge and management of seagrass meadows, with the aim of contributing to the dissemination of knowledge in this area and reflecting on its importance, current status, challenges and conservation needs. It will be held in the assembly hall of the Castle of Santa Cruz, headquarters of CEIDA.
• A3: Technical publication on the conservation and future of seagrass meadows. Publication derived from action A2, which will include scientific articles submitted for review and authorship by the speakers at the seminar and other experts in seagrass meadows. This publication will allow greater dissemination of knowledge about these ecosystems, through its free availability in digital format and a specific print run for distribution to universities, public libraries, research centers and other public-private destinations of interest.
• B1: Pilot programme for environmental education on seagrass meadows. Within the environmental education campaign linked to the project, an Environmental Education campaign is planned to be carried out in educational centers in coastal municipalities with the presence of seagrass meadows. This action will consist of the identification, contact and selection of participating centres and the holding of a series of educational workshops in the classrooms with content on what seagrass meadows are, where they are located, their ecological importance, ecosystem services they offer, conservation problems and presence in their immediate environment, among others. The action will include the preparation of a manual for teachers in order to guide them in carrying out the different activities throughout the course.
• B2. Annual monitoring of intertidal seagrass meadows with educational centres. With all or some of the educational centers participating in the educational program, an annual monitoring program of a seagrass meadow near the location of the center will be carried out. The action will consist of carrying out a sampling campaign throughout a school year with the accompaniment and expert advice of the project staff, who will participate together with the CEIDA educational team in the activities carried out in the classroom and on the outings to the beaches to coordinate and organize the sampling. guaranteeing its correct implementation under the correct methods and acting as scientific direction of the monitoring campaign.
• B3. School Congress on Seagrass Meadows . Once the monitoring is completed, a “School Congress” will take place at the CEIDA headquarters, a meeting day between the students of the different participating centers in which they will present to the rest of the participants the results and conclusions of the work carried out throughout the year, thus also making them aware of the functioning of the scientific field. of which they will be participants through the presentation of their work. The action will include the preparation of a final product in the form of an informative publication of the congress and the results obtained by the different schools.
• C1: Environmental awareness seminar for the fishing, shellfish and recreational sectors for the conservation of seagrass meadows. In addition to the educational community and society in general, the specific recipients of the project are the fishing, shellfish and recreational sectors, with very diverse characteristics but which coincide in that they carry out part of their activities directly or indirectly on seagrass meadows, with an interaction that can be negative or positive. They also agree that these ecosystems provide basic services for the realization of these activities. For both reasons, it is essential to contribute to a greater knowledge of grasslands, their importance and their impact on economic activities. With this objective, a specific awareness seminar will be held for these sectors, with the presence of experts and facilitators who will provide information and participatory dynamics to reflect and publicize all these aspects.
• C2: Preparation of a manual of good practices for the conservation of seagrass meadows. Related to the previous action, a manual of good practices will also be prepared for the aforementioned sectors and for the administrations to which it will be given the widest possible dissemination in order to publicize its importance and good practices in its management and in the activities carried out in its environment.

The Seagrass Meadows, Treasures of Biodiversity project has developed actions aimed at increasing awareness of the importance of the conservation of seagrass meadows on the Cantabrian-Galician coast by informing society of the environmental, economic and social benefits that meadows provide. Within the framework of this project, a series of publications have been produced that fill a gap in information on the subject: scientific-technical publication on seagrass meadows in this geographical area, a manual of good practices for the conservation of seagrass meadows aimed at the social sectors that have an impact on them in the development of their activity, or a didactic unit for teachers and environmental educators.

This latest publication arises from the collaborative work developed with the teachers of 5 educational centers that participated in a scientific monitoring of 5 seagrass meadows located in the provinces of A Coruña and Pontevedra, as well as in the I School Congress of Seagrass Meadows where the results of the characterization of its seagrass meadow were presented, such as the research-action work carried out in educational centers, aimed at raising awareness in their local and school community. The educational project has also had a more extensive part that has reached more than 27 educational centers near seagrass meadows.

The project also included a technical conference on the conservation of seagrass meadows open to the interested public and an awareness seminar for the fishing, shellfish and recreational sectors that was designed and carried out collaboratively with shellfish gatherers’ guilds working on the seagrass meadow of Zostera noltii and the largest Zostera marina in Spain.