Seagrass Restoration Efforts to restore seagrass marine habitat at our two restoration sites on the Isle of Wight began in March and April this year under the Solent Seascape Project. A total of 132,000 seeds and 2,160 transplants have been planted across the two sites. There are plans to continue this
Following scientific trials in 2019, in 2020 many seagrass seeds were planted in Dale, supported by the community, school children and local organisations. Since planting, the seagrass area has been reseeded several times to infill gaps and support it as it develops. Despite some setbacks, the restoration area is now
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. We’ve reached 30,000 oysters! October was a busy month for the Restoration Forth oyster team. We had an absolutely
Seagrass Restoration Efforts to restore seagrass marine habitat at our two restoration sites on the Isle of Wight began in March and April this year under the Solent Seascape Project. A total of 132,000 seeds and 2,160 transplants have been planted across the two sites. There are plans to continue this planting in spring 2025 using the same methods. Continued monitoring of the restoration sites and WWF seagrass planting trials are undertaken during fieldwork on a monthly basis. Summer Seagrass Seed Harvest During July, we collected seagrass seeds (Zostera marina) from three meadows around the Isle of Wight. We were joined by 117 volunteers and some of our funders and project partners as part of our seagrass seed harvesting wade and pick event. We collectively harvested 101, 710 seeds in total, which will contribute towards 2025’s restoration efforts. Seagrass Safe Sailor We’ve been working with the boating community on the island to explore Advanced Mooring Systems (AMS), and promote seagrass safe sailing practices. Two AMS have been designed and are in the final stages of being installed at Seaview. These AMS provide a demonstration of how AMS can work safelyin a challenging tidal environment with moving sediment and currents, whilst reducing scarring on the extensive seagrass meadow here. In 2025, we’ll be monitoring seagrass recovery at Seaview, and working with local stakeholders to map the seagrass meadow. You can explore our Seagrass Safe Sailor resources here. Fragment Walks This year we, and many volunteers have also been restoring seagrass through fragments (washed up seagrass). We have: Set up two fragment collection points at St Helen’s and Arc Biodiversity in Sandown Run eight fragment collection walks Planted 329 plants over 17m² Run two school-focused fragment collection walks Worked with over 200 volunteers. To find out more about our Fragment Walk initiative visit our blog article. Looking Back and Moving Forward: A Big Thank You to Our Volunteers! This year has been incredibly busy, and we couldn’t have succeeded without our amazing volunteers. Your dedication has been invaluable. As we plan for an exciting 2025, we’re eager to welcome familiar faces back and meet new ones. Let’s make next year even better together! Thank you for being a vital part of the seagrass community.
Following scientific trials in 2019, in 2020 many seagrass seeds were planted in Dale, supported by the community, school children and local organisations. Since planting, the seagrass area has been reseeded several times to infill gaps and support it as it develops. Despite some setbacks, the restoration area is now doing well, with a great increase in growth this year seen in recent monitoring. The natural patch of seagrass closer to the shore (Frenchman’s Bay area) is also doing well, likely due to seagrass seeds being transported to this area from the restoration area, and natural growth. Scuba divers went out in autumn 2024 and covered 3,000 m² of the restoration area, surveying in ten distinct lines. The results show that the average number of shoots within each seagrass clump has greatly increased since 2023. This means that the clumps of seagrass are larger, with the potential to patch together with more growth to form a meadow. The seagrass in the restoration is looking healthy and growing well! The average number of shoots across the whole restoration area has also increased since 2023, and recovered since a trawling and storm incidentthat impacted the seagrass from 2021 to 2022. Leaf length of the seagrass has remained stable from 2023 to 2024, suggesting that the seagrass is reaching it’s maximum length for the environmental conditions. We’ve also been co-delivering many seagrass related activities with local businesses – including seagrass paddleboard and snorkel safaris, art activities, seine netting, community meetings and more. We have our first Sensitive Ecosystem Responsible Fisher (SERF) and are trialling seagrass friendly lobster pots. We also continue to support the visitor moorings located outside of the restoration area – with donations encouraged for use. We couldn’t have achieved what has been without the ongoing support of Dale Seagrass Stakeholder Group, who continue to provide oversight to the project.
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. We’ve reached 30,000 oysters! October was a busy month for the Restoration Forth oyster team. We had an absolutely amazing number of volunteers dedicate over 900 hours of their time this autumn to help us get the last 10,700 oysters through the biosecurity process, stringed so they were ready for monitoring, and then safely deployed in their new home. This brings our total oysters restored to the Firth of Forth to 30,638, exceeding our 30,000 target! We really can’t thank everyone enough who joined us over the last year to make this possible, it really could not have been achieved without all your hard work. In August, the Heriot-Watt University team were also out monitoring the oysters that were deployed in the spring. We are very pleased to share with you that there was an incredible 85% survival rate of the oysters monitored! This survival rate is such a great start for these oysters, we can only hope that monitoring continues to show them doing well in their new home. Seagrass processing completed In summer 2024, the seagrass team collected reproductive seagrass shoots in Orkney, Inverness, and Burntisland. With the help of over 150 volunteers, all seeds have now been separated from the seagrass material, ahead of planting in March 2025. Eleri and Lyle delivered the seagrass seeds to the Project Seagrass nursery, where they will be stored over the winter. Thank you to all our volunteers that have helped process seagrass material over the past couple of weeks. Understanding Scotland’s Seagrass Survey You are invited to participate in a short, online survey focussed on better understanding Scottish seagrass ecosystems. Local knowledge is invaluable in understanding this habitat, the challenges it faces and its impact on communities connected to it. The survey aims to explore: The location and status of local meadows Possible, localised reasons for decline Community perspectives, including; concerns, barriers and needs Responses will identify how best to support coastal communities in seagrass conservation, ensuring local voices play a central role in shaping future strategies by those working in this field. Find out more and access the survey here. (Scots Gaelic speakers can access a translated version using the drop-down box on the survey). We hope to reach communities across Scotland’s coastline, a big task! As such, sharing in your networks is greatly appreciated. The higher the participation, the stronger an impact this research can have. Any questions please contact katy@projectseagrass.org Citizen Science Update Thank you so much to those of you who submitted survey data for our oyster citizen science. We have collated all the results that were submitted up until September, and a summary of those results can be found here. An amazing 130 surveys were submitted altogether across Fife, Edinburgh and East Lothian! This data is incredibly useful in conjunction with other site suitability assessments to help identify future locations for oyster restoration. Outcome of the Nature of Scotland Awards! We won! Restoration Forth are delighted to have won the Coast and Waters award at this years RSPB Nature of Scotland Awards. Thank you so much to all who have helped make this project a success!
