Importance of science communication for highlighting the plight of the overlooked heroes of conservation

Effective communication of the importance of conservation is needed now more than ever. Yet academia generally does little to help by valuing publications over public perceptions. As a result, numerous conservation issues... [ view full abstract ]

Effective communication of the importance of conservation is needed now more than ever. Yet academia generally does little to help by valuing publications over public perceptions. As a result, numerous conservation issues remain out of sight and out of mind to the general public. Nowhere is this more apparent than within the field of seagrass conservation. Seagrass ecosystems provide services that are vital to humanity. Yet everyday activities across society reduce the health of these ecosystems and undermine their ability to provide these vital services. Seagrass loss occurs daily and there is increasing recognition of the need to engage society to deliver behaviour changes as part of solutions to marine issues; the issues of plastics is one such example. While a range of concepts have been proposed to engage society with the sea in response to challenges, even the simplest of methods may benefit seagrass due to its limited public appeal. In a 2014 survey on public perception of key marine animal and plant species in the UK, seagrass was deemed the least interesting, with few respondents interested in learning more about the species. However, recent media attention and programmes such as Blue Planet II have given visibility to the plight of seagrass meadows. Here we present a case study of how the simplest of communication can be key to bringing conservation issues to light.