On an April morning at a popular beach in Japan’s Yokohama, volunteers pluck a strand of eelgrass from a tray. Around 100 volunteers gathered to plant seedlings, contributing to Japan's broader environmental goals such as achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, which includes eelgrass restoration efforts.

Yokohama

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On an initiative at a Yokohama beach, volunteers actively participated in an environmental effort by planting eelgrass seedlings. This event, involving around 100 individuals, is part of Japan's larger commitment towards achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, highlighting the significance of restoring eelgrass zones as a contributing factor in the country's climate strategy.

Eelgrass, a type of seagrass found in shallow coastal waters, serves as more than an ecological restoration effort; it is also a critical component in Japan's climate change mitigation plan. These efforts are supported by Hideaki Kankei, who organizes community-driven planting days, emphasizing the need to repopulate the coastal waters around Tokyo Bay with eelgrass, a thriving habitat that has significantly depleted due to urban development and expansion.

For the first time, Japan’s recent greenhouse gas inventory submitted as part of the United Nations climate change agenda included the carbon absorption capacity of seagrass and seaweed beds. However, a 2022 study by Japan's Ministry of Environment showed that the nation’s coastal ecosystems store only about 0.03 percent of its annual carbon emissions. Marine scientist Keita Furukawa mentioned the potential of seagrasses to absorb a more substantial portion of human carbon emissions, possibly up to 10 or 20 percent, if conservation and restoration efforts expand significantly.

However, capturing all of Japan's emissions through seaweed and seagrasses alone would require an enormous expansion of these marine habitats, covering 10 percent of Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), or approximately 433 million hectares, as noted by Gregory Nishihara, a marine algal ecology professor. This would be a challenging feat considering the current extent of Japan's seagrass and seaweed beds is less than 200,000 hectares, a reduction from over 850,000 acres three decades ago, indicating a significant decrease and a daunting task ahead for reforestation of the seafloor towards meeting Japan's climate goals.



How much seaweed does Japan need to meet its climate goal?

These volunteers aren't simply out for a stroll along this popular beach in Japan's Yokohama. They're hoping to fight climate change with these clumps of eelgrass, wrapping them in clay and planting them among the waves. This group wants to try and help restore Japan's ecosystem and in turn help achieve Japan's goal of going carbon neutral by 2050. But will efforts like these be enough? Hideaki Kankei brings people together for days of planting the eelgrass, a variety of seagrasses that grow in shallow coastal waters. Dig a hole, put it all the way in, then cover it over with some sand. You did it. Kankei says the shallow waters around Tokyo Bay were once filled with bits of eelgrass. However, as the area developed and greater Tokyo grew, the plants died off. Japan's recent greenhouse gas inventory submitted to the UN's climate change effort this month, factors in carbon absorbed by seagrass and seaweed beds for the first time. However, in 2022, Japan's Ministry of Environment found that the amount of so-called blue carbon stored by the country's coastal ecosystem was only about 0.03 percent of what it emits every year. Marine scientist Keita Furukawa says seagrasses could change that. If eelgrass were to grow in every shallow area of the sea, it's possible for it to grow. I think it could absorb perhaps 10 or 20 percent of human emissions. As things currently stand, it can take in maybe a few percent at most, so it's not going to have a swift impact as a measure against global warming. But Gregory Nishihara, a marine algal ecology professor at Nagasaki University, says relying on the plants alone for carbon capture is impractical. So I did some calculations, and I think if my calculations are correct, then if we wanted to capture all those emissions just using seaweeds, we'd need to use 10 percent of Japan's EEZ. And so that's like 433 million hectares, so I don't know how big that is, but I'm pretty sure that's huge. So that's a lot of space. According to the Environment Ministry data, Japan's seaweed grass and seaweed beds have shrunk, making the task of reforesting the seafloor even more challenging. They are now estimated to cover less than 200,000 hectares, or around half a million acres, down from a little over 850,000 acres over the course of three decades.

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