- August 12, 2024
Content Team
Restoration Forth aims to restore seagrass meadows and native oysters into the Firth of Forth, to create a healthier coastline for people and nature.
Find out more about the project here.
Seagrass - the outcome of monitoring
Back in March, 128 volunteers helped Restoration Forth plant more seagrass seeds along the Firth of Forth. The team and volunteers have been keeping a close eye on their growth. A HUGE thank you to all the passionate and dedicated volunteers for your time!
Although we don’t have the full picture yet, fewer shoots have emerged than we hoped, so we are working to understand why.
We know the nature of restoration projects can be challenging, but what we’ve learned through this process has been incredibly helpful.
We’ve also been trialling the transplantation of dwarf eelgrass cores – by transplanting cores (seagrass with the sediment) from established meadows to adjacent bare sediment. With this method we are hoping to extend the current seagrass area in the Firth of Forth. This year we have transplanted 400 cores, and last year we have transplanted 480 cores. This method seems to be working well, and we’ll be monitoring them more closely in coming months. Keep your fingers and toes crossed!
Oysters
We recently launched our new citizen science resource and are running some training events in our oyster citizen science activities in the coming weeks, including some family friendly sessions aimed at getting young people involved in citizen science. You can find the activities and all the information on how to take part on the webpage here under ‘Help Restore the Firth of Forth’.
As we start to near the end of summer it is time to think about our next oyster deployments. We aim to release a further 10,000 oysters into the Firth of Forth in Autumn, so keep an ear out for opportunities to be involved in our biosecurity days soon.