Efficient seagrass propagation with autonomous harvester robots

SEADS, a project by Enactus Münster e.V., is dedicated to restoring and cultivating seagrass meadows along the German Baltic Sea coast. Seagrass is an underestimated climate protector: Depending on the location, it stores 30–50 times more carbon than comparable forest-covered ecosystems on land. At the same time, it protects coastlines from erosion, reduces wave energy, stabilises sediments and provides a valuable habitat for millions of marine organisms.

To establish new seagrass areas more quickly and more gently, the interdisciplinary student team is developing the world’s first fully automated robot for harvesting seagrass seeds. The autonomous system collects the seeds carefully – a task that has previously only been possible manually by divers and great time effort. Using the robot makes replanting not only more efficient, but also significantly more cost‑effective – and therefore scalable for the first time.

SEADS takes a holistic approach to addressing climate change and collaborates with scientists from renowned research institutes. In 2025, the project team won the Enactus Germany National Cup.