Agena client boatfolk, a marina and waterside services provider, has been working tirelessly to protect Studland Bay’s seagrass meadows and seahorses. Boatfolk’s work with The Seahorse Trust, both founding members of The Studland Bay Marine Partnership, has resulted in the deployment of new eco-friendly moorings that reduce damage to the ecosystem caused by traditional mooring techniques.
The traditional method of mooring involves dragging a heavy chain across the seabed, damaging the ecosystem. In contrast, the eco-moorings use a lightweight rope and a helix anchor that twists into the seabed, reducing damage. The system has already been implemented at Studland Bay in Dorset, with plans to expand across the UK.
Parking technology for good
The new eco-moorings also provide boaters with the opportunity to pay for their duration of stay with a donation to The Seahorse Trust using technology developed by Agena’s tech business, Atria. Developed for the car parking environment we have been able to provide a digital solution which facilitates this payment and donation process with 100% of the mooring fee going to the charity.
Neil Garrick-Maidment, Executive Director and Founder of The Seahorse Trust said of our contribution:
“We are very grateful to the Agena Group and its hard-working team for putting together this eco-mooring solution for us to use on our eco-mooring project at Studland Bay. The Studland Bay Marine Partnership is working hard to protect this highly sensitive area by installing eco-moorings. By enabling boat owners to make a payment for their duration of stay and additionally capture voluntary donations through this innovative solution it means we can go forward installing more eco-moorings, securing this fragile site into the future, not just for the seagrass but also for the highly sensitive seahorses.”
CEO Agena Group, said of the partnership: “We’re incredibly proud to contribute to a cause that’s close to our client’s heart and work with them to achieve their sustainability goals. We thrive off finding solutions for our clients, whether they are directly related to parking or not, and to be able to apply our technology to an initiative like this has been an absolute pleasure.” Support The Seahorse Trust via the button below: