More than 30,000 oysters have been returned to the Firth of Forth after a century’s absence as part of an award-winning Scots conservation project. Restoration Forth, a WWF Scotland scheme, picked up the Coast and Waters Award for their incredible efforts at Thursday night’s Nature of Scotland Awards in Edinburgh.
An “amazing” 85 per cent of oysters returned to the sea by conservationists over the last three years have survived, experts say. The project has also seen more than 150,000 seeds of unique underwater seagrass planted.
Considered a “wonder plant”, seagrass meadows are a haven for marine life as well as absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. Restoration Forth beat off stiff competition from other eco projects to claim the Nature of Scotland gong at RSPB Scotland’s glitzy annual bash, held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
Naomi Arnold, Restoration Forth Project Manager at WWF, said: “We’re over the moon that Restoration Forth has won the Nature of Scotland Coasts and Waters award – it’s truly an incredible honour to be recognised alongside such inspiring projects. We’re so proud of what we have achieved over the past three years of this project, re-introducing over 30,000 European flat oysters back into the Forth, planting 156,000 seagrass seeds, and learning a huge amount that will help marine restoration projects in the future.
“All of this has only been possible thanks to the incredible partners, volunteers, communities and funders who have given so much support to the project.”
The awards, presented by Deacon Blue drummer Dougie Vipond and Arlene Stuart – co-hosts of BBC Scotland’s Landward – saw nature enthusiasts and conservationists come together to celebrate their work this year. Other big winners were a project in the Highlands which helps prisoners connect with nature, and a decades-long effort to restore peatlands in the Flow Country which saw the area win UNESCO World Heritage site status earlier this summer.
Anne McCall, Director of RSPB Scotland said: “Once again the Nature of Scotland Awards have brought a growing group of hardworking, motivated and passionate people into the conservation spotlight, and I’d like to wish all our winners a huge congratulations. It’s a joy to see such incredible work happening across the country with nature and climate at its heart, and Scotland is all the better for it.”
Professor Colin Galbraith, Chair of awards co-sponsor NatureScot, said: “As Scotland takes up the challenge to stop the biodiversity loss our generation has witnessed, this year’s award winners are the true nature heroes we all need in our lives.”
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