It is now known as a ‘wonder plant’, but for a long-time seagrass remained on the periphery of marine conservation, despite providing a valuable habitat that rivals that of more ‘charismatic’ mangrove forests and coral reefs. The most common seagrass in the UK is Zostera marina, also known as common eelgrass. It is a grass-like flowering plant with dark-green, ribbon-shaped leaves reaching 20-50cm in length, and forms dense underwater meadows.