Familiar to yachtsmen and people living all around the Mediterranean, the Posidonia is fragile and under serious threat, particularly from the way we use it. Why is it vital to the survival of the Mediterranean, and to each and every person living along its coastline?
Sandrine Ruitton is one of the world's leading posidonia specialists. A researcher at the MIO - Institut OSU Pythéas in Marseille, her work examines the ecology of this endemic plant species on the Mediterranean seabed. The marine biologist invites us to reflect on the issues involved in preserving this ancestral 'underwater forest'.
Posidonia is a thousand-year-old plant subject to hydrological and climatic variations. 70 million years ago, these land plants with flowers and fruit colonised the seabed. Over time, they evolved to form a remarkable marine ecosystem. Posidonia is the lifeblood of the Mediterranean: it is home to many species and is an essential carbon sink.
Unfortunately, its very slow rate of growth - 30cm every ten years, 30m in 10 centuries - is the opposite of its rate of deterioration. Understandably, the stakes involved in preserving it are immense.
