Revitalizing The Mediterranean Sea: Zenith Partners With The Medsea Foundation To Restore Seagrass

Bolstering its commitment to environmental action and a cleaner future, ZENITH announced its partnership with the MEDSEA foundation to support its project to replant carbon-absorbing seagrasses in the Mediterranean Sea.

During the Extreme E Island X Prix race in Sardinia last year, ZENITH – the electric rally racing championship’s Official Timekeeper and Founding Partner – took part in the local Legacy Programme, an initiative led by the MEDSEA foundation to restore the Posidonia oceanica meadows in the Mediterranean Sea, the jewel of Europe and the closest open body of water to Switzerland. One year later, a new partnership between ZENITH and MEDSEA is born to amplify its activities and reduce CO2 emissions.

Supported by the ZENITH HORIZ-ON platform as part of the brand’s growing number of initiatives and associations to tackle the effects of climate change, MEDSEA is a nascent project with a long-term plan for the coming years. ZENITH and MEDSEA have opted to intervene in the Marine Protected Area “Capo Testa Punta Falcone”, in the Municipality of Santa Teresa di Gallura on the northern coast of Sardinia. The objective for the first year is to revitalize an area of 200 m2 of dead matte by planting of 4.000 uprooted Posidonia oceanica cuttings. MEDSEA will constantly be monitoring the health of the planted Posidonia as well as the measurable impact of its project and will be able to provide figures and feedback on the CO2 emissions sequestered and fixed by the Posidonia plants.

“It's easy to overlook how the magnificent Mediterranean Sea is in fact one of the most polluted seas in the world. As Europeans, the Mediterranean holds a fond place in all our hearts, and the time to act and reverse years of neglect is now. That is why today, I’m humbled and proud to announce that ZENITH is lending its support to this project, which is already showing very promising results and is a perfect fit for our HORIZ-ON platform for corporate social responsibility and environmental action”, stated ZENITH CEO Julien Tornare.

MEDSEA aims to restore the habitat of the Posidonia Oceanica, a marine plant endemic to the Mediterranean Sea providing an important habitat for marine species and having a crucial role in reducing CO2 emissions as a “blue carbon” store to mitigate climate change. Due to rising sea temperatures, Posidonia has suffered degradation to its natural habitat and a drastic drop in the number of plants over the last few years, putting its ability to sequester carbon in peril.

In fact, seagrass in general is believed to be one of the most rapidly declining ecosystems in the world. Even though it only occupies 0.2% of the ocean floor, seagrass stores 10% of the oceans’ carbon and can capture 30% more from the atmosphere than its tropical rainforest equivalent. This unique capacity to capture and store carbon makes preserving seagrass ecosystems one of the most vital steps in mitigating the effects of climate change. And as the “lung of the Mediterranean”, Posidonia’s positive impact on carbon emissions affects the entire region – including Switzerland.

MEDSEA founder Alessio Satta shared, "We are delighted to have undertaken a long-term strategy with ZENITH for the restoration of coastal marine ecosystems in the Mediterranean, starting here in Sardinia with one of its most endangered endemic species: Posidonia oceanica. For us at MEDSEA, it is very important to take concrete restoration actions that generate a tangible impact. With partners like ZENITH, with whom we share values such as perseverance and determination, we will be seeking more ambitious goals and results. It's definitely the time to reach our star!".

ZENITH is committed to supporting the MEDSEA Foundation over the coming years and looks forward to sharing the progress of this unique initiative.

ZENITH: TIME TO REACH YOUR STAR.

ZENITH exists to inspire individuals to pursue their dreams and make them come true – against all odds. Since its establishment in 1865, ZENITH became the first vertically integrated Swiss watch manufacture, and its watches have accompanied extraordinary figures that dreamt big and strived to achieve the impossible – from Louis Blériot’s history-making flight across the English Channel to Felix Baumgartner’s record-setting stratospheric free-fall jump. Zenith is also highlighting visionary and trailblazing women by celebrating their accomplishments and creating the DREAMHERS platform where women share their experiences and inspire others to fulfil their dreams.

With innovation as its guiding star, ZENITH exclusively features in-house developed and manufactured movements in all its watches. Since the creation of the El Primero in 1969, the world’s first automatic chronograph calibre, ZENITH has gone on to master high-frequency precision and offers time measurements in fractions of a second, including 1/10th of a second in the Chronomaster collection and 1/100th of a second in the DEFY collection. Because innovation is synonymous with responsibility, the ZENITH HORIZ-ON initiative affirms the brand's commitments to inclusion & diversity, sustainability and employee wellbeing. ZENITH has been shaping the future of Swiss watchmaking since 1865, accompanying those who dare to challenge themselves and reach new heights. The time to reach your star is now.

About MEDSEA

MEDSEA is the space where researchers, thinkers, and leaders come together to raise awareness for the protection of our sea and collaborate on concrete projects that can conserve biodiversity and cope with the climate crisis. It acts as a collaborative platform to research and apply concrete solutions to make a change for nature. MEDSEA foundation was created in 2015 in Sardinia.
Its mission is to accelerate a process of change that is already in progress and make sure that the ecological transition is fast enough to meet the ultimate goal of keeping our Mediterranean Sea biologically diverse and dynamic, and also safe, clean, healthy and productive.

On the occasion of the UN Ocean Summit, which took place in Lisbon in July 2022, the MEDSEA foundation, ithe Fondation de la Mer (France) and the John Nurminen Foundation (Finland) announced the creation of the European coalition of foundations dedicated to the protection of the oceans. In a context of climatic and biological emergency, this initiative aims to strengthen concrete conservation and restoration actions on the ground, from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean, via the Atlantic including the Overseas Territories.

https://www.medseafoundation.org/index.php/it/