“I believe a key part of successful marine and fisheries management is listening to, involving, trusting and believing that those who live here can and will do what is best.”
The Wester Ross MPA turns 10 years old, and, in a new blog post on our site, @noelhawkins talks reflects on his lifelong status as a fisherman, and why marine protection works best when the people who live and work there are part of the solution. 🌊
Read the full post here: /24-04-26-10-years-of-the-wester-ross-mpa-by-noel-hawkins/
#MarineConservation #CommunityScience #Fisheries #Scotland #WesterRoss #OceanRecovery @ullapoolseasavers
How much can you tell about an orca just by looking at its fin? Turns out, quite a lot.
If you want to read more about cetaceans in our coastal waters, check out the HDWT’s catalogue! /west-coast-community-catalogue
#MPA #MarineConservation #Community30x30 #CommunityMPAs #PriorityMarineFeature #orca #KillerWhale
Last weekend, we joined the annual gathering of the Coastal Communities Network (CCN) at the @ardentinnyoutdoorcentre on Loch Long. It was a powerful reminder of just how much brilliant work is being undertaken by communities around the coast of #Scotland – predominantly as volunteers – across education, community outreach, waste management, marine research, restoration and citizen science. These are all critical aspects of #activemanagement, without which #MPAs stand little chance of being effective.
While blown away by the achievements of the groups, we sensed frustration from many that they struggle to get their voices heard or to maintain effective communication with government. Significant amounts of on-the-ground knowledge, capacity and data seem largely disconnected from #marine #policy and decision-making, which substantially limits what can be achieved. At a time when we know that meaningful action is urgently needed for our seas, this seems critical to address.
We were proud to have supported this gathering through our small grants programme. Community networking and knowledge exchange opportunities like this are invaluable for building momentum and maintaining the energy to keep pushing forward. For our part we’ve come away full of ideas and with renewed sense of purpose to work alongside CCN to help support communities like these and elevate their voice within the policy and management sphere.
Huge thanks to CCN and @faunafloraint for inviting us along – and to all the communities for the vital work you are all doing around our coastline. It was wonderful to spend time with the groups we already know and meet so many new ones. And a particular highlight to see the @arran.coast ROV in action!
Community science strikes again! 🌊
By helping identify and monitor important egg-laying habitats, community members and researchers together contributed to protecting one of the most vulnerable marine species in UK waters: the flapper skate.
Dr Lauren Smith, Chris Rickard, and Marnik Van Cauter were aided in their 31-month survey of Loch Melfort by intrepid local divers from the local community. Thanks to their combined efforts, 16 egg cases were confirmed to be laid in the survey site over the 31 months, with successful hatching occurring across all seasons. A fantastic bit of insight into such an elusive creature.
“Understanding reproductive characteristics and essential habitat requirements is necessary to accurately predict population stability. Skate reproductive behaviour and habitat selection play key roles in species survival.” - Lauren Smith.
These sites matter because every egg case represents the next generation of a species recovering from historic decline. Without everyone’s help, these kinds of surveys are nearly impossible to pull off.
Science doesn’t only happen in labs or universities. It also happens on boats, on coastlines, through local knowledge, shared observations, and people who care enough to get involved.
#CommunityScience #CitizenScience #MarineConservation #FlapperSkate #OceanRecovery
Happy Earth Day 2026!
This year, Earth Day makes plain the power of local communities in fighting the climate and biodiversity crises. And we couldn’t agree more.
Over the last 12 months, we’ve been up and down the length of Scotland, aiding and learning as much as we can from coastal communities. What we’ve seen has been invaluable, and our journey together is only just beginning.
#EarthDay #EarthDay2026 #InvestInOurPlanet #SaveThePlanet #Community30x30 #CommunityPower
30x30 Reality Check.
Over 190 countries have pledged to conserve 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030. In the ocean, the amount given protected status has just ticked over to 10.01%. This is encouraging, but there’s a problem.
Whilst these areas have been designated ‘protected’, in most cases it’s unclear whether there is any management of those areas or if the management is actually doing any protecting.
Only 1.3% of the ocean is covered by protected areas where management effectiveness had been assessed and reported, reports @unepwcmc
And according to a report from the Protected Areas Working Group of the IUCN National Committee UK, although 38% of the UK waters are designated as protected areas, "for no MPA site type was there evidence of complete effective management."
Have we rushed to create protected areas, without first deciding how best to protect them?
But there is a solution.
One type of MPA is consistently proven to have positive social, environmental, and economic effects - community-led, actively managed MPAs.
For MPAs to truly thrive, local knowledge, active management, equitable governance and sustained finance are essential. With them, we believe that areas of the ocean can go from just being designated protected, to places where everything and everyone can thrive.
If you are interested in learning more about actively managing your local waters in the UK, visit our website: /
Read more about this here: /en/news/world-reaches-milestone-for-nature-10-of-ocean-now-officially-protected
/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Statements-of-Compliance-for-UK-protected-areas-and-%E2%80%98other-effective-area-based-conservation-measures-2023-Review.pdf
Oysters – the pearls of the ocean.
A team from Heriot-Watt University, led by Bill Sanderson, is working to bring oysters back to Dornoch. We had the chance to witness part of this effort.
#Sustainability #MarineConservation #Restoration #Biodiversity #ClimateAction
This is the big one for us – What is ‘Community 30x30?’
Alongside the world’s target to protect 30% of the land and sea by 2030, we have pledged to enable at least 30 community groups to work towards effective management of 30 marine protected areas across England and Scotland by 2030.
#MPA #MarineConservation #ClimateResilience #Sustainability #MarinePlanning #CommunityEngagement #30x30 #Community30x30
‘It’s always magical watching the effect films have on people’ - Janis Piggott, @ullapoolseasavers
On Sunday we took a trip to Inverness, to be part of the @morayoceancommunity ’s Ocean Film Festival. It was a great event with a fantastic range of different types, lengths and budgets of films, highlighting the wide range of challenges and opportunities faced by the ocean and those that live alongside it.
A huge thank you to everyone that helped put this together. Events like this are so important in bringing nature to the forefront of people’s minds and giving a voice to ocean communities. We’re delighted to be working alongside Moray Ocean Community now and in the future!
#MarineConservation #ConservationFilmFestival #OceanFilms #WildlifeFilm #ActForTheOcean
@mossy.earth@morayfirth@seafulcharity
