Seawilding
Community-based restoration of key-stone species, seagrass (Zostera marina) and native oysters (Ostrea edulis)
The award-winning charity, Seawilding, is the UK’s first community-based native oyster and seagrass restoration project. They are located in Loch Craignish, Argyll and Loch Broom, Wester Ross. Their aim is to restore lost biodiversity, sequester carbon, create green jobs and mentor other community-based groups to do the same.
Native oysters were once abundant in Loch Craignish and Loch Broom, however, due to overexploitation and possibly disease, the native oyster has now all but disappeared, not only in Scotland but all across the UK. Seawilding are working to restore native oyster populations back to their former glory. Native oysters are ‘Ecosystem Engineers’ and provide a range of ecosystem services which are vital to our marine ecosystems.
Seagrass is a vital inshore habitat for multiple marine species yet around 92% of meadows have disappeared from UK coastal waters and in the fight against climate change and biodiversity-loss, restoring seagrass is now a top priority. Seawilding is trailing multiple methodologies to understand how best to restore seagrass, at the lowest possible cost, and at scale. They are working to enhance the isolated and fragmented seagrass meadows in Loch Craignish with the aim of rolling out these marine bio-diversity restoration schemes to other coastal communities across Scotland. Scores of volunteers help the charity with their restoration efforts. They have trained insterns, as well as local volunteers and other community groups in their methodologies and engaged hundreds of school children with their “citizen science” programmes at Loch Craignish and Loch Broom.
The award-winning charity, Seawilding, is the UK’s first community-based native oyster and seagrass restoration project. They are located in Loch Craignish, Argyll and Loch Broom, Wester Ross. Their aim is to restore lost biodiversity, sequester carbon, create green jobs and mentor other community-based groups to do the same.
Native oysters were once abundant in Loch Craignish and Loch Broom, however, due to overexploitation and possibly disease, the native oyster has now all but disappeared, not only in Scotland but all across the UK. Seawilding are working to restore native oyster populations back to their former glory. Native oysters are ‘Ecosystem Engineers’ and provide a range of ecosystem services which are vital to our marine ecosystems.
Seagrass is a vital inshore habitat for multiple marine species yet around 92% of meadows have disappeared from UK coastal waters and in the fight against climate change and biodiversity-loss, restoring seagrass is now a top priority. Seawilding is trailing multiple methodologies to understand how best to restore seagrass, at the lowest possible cost, and at scale. They are working to enhance the isolated and fragmented seagrass meadows in Loch Craignish with the aim of rolling out these marine bio-diversity restoration schemes to other coastal communities across Scotland. Scores of volunteers help the charity with their restoration efforts. They have trained insterns, as well as local volunteers and other community groups in their methodologies and engaged hundreds of school children with their “citizen science” programmes at Loch Craignish and Loch Broom.
