A group of military and government leaders has endorsed an initiative to protect the one million acres of salt marsh that stretches from North Carolina down to northeast Florida. Salt marshes are sinewy channels of coastal grasslands known for their ability to protect coasts from flooding and storm surge during heavy rain events and hurricanes.
Seagrass meadows are widespread in shallow coastal waters and are involved in trapping and binding sediment particles that form the seabed. These seagrass meadows also provide important ecosystem services and benefits, such as water quality improvement; CO2 absorption; climate change mitigation; sediment production for seafloor and beach stabilization; coastal protection; nursery and refuge areas for