Seawilding: Marine Habitat Restoration in the Scottish Highlands

This week, we're celebrating World Environment Day by chatting with an innovative, community-led charity based up in the North-West coast of Scotland called Seawilding. This brilliant team focuses on restoring wildlife communities on our shores which have been hugely affected by human activity for decades. As our Co-founder, Steve, is a former Scuba instructor, this is a cause very close to our hearts, and the work being done by this team fills us with hope for the future of our ocean habitats. Read along to hear about the practices affecting our shorelines, the work being done to reverse the effects, and learn about the team behind the charity, how you can get involved, and show your support from home. 

Seawilding started life in the tiny loch-side village of Ardfern on Scotland’s west coast. Back in 2016, a group of local people came together to form a voluntary organisation called CROMACH (which stands for Craignish Restoration of Marine and Coastal Habitats and aptly translates to a shepherd’s crook in Gaelic), because they were worried about the declining health of their local waters - Loch Craignish. That grassroots effort eventually grew into Seawilding, which was officially founded in 2020 to take things a step further and actively restore marine habitats. The big focus was on bringing back native oysters and seagrass - two species that used to thrive here but have now almost completely disappeared. A big driving force behind it all is CEO Danny Renton, one of CROMACH’s founding members. He often talks about how you can walk along the shores of Loch Craignish and find beaches covered in old oyster shells - some so large and thick they may have been there for many hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years. But look beneath the water, and there’s nothing. So the obvious question was: where did they all go? That question really sparked the mission.

As the team, all from the local area, got stuck into restoring native oysters, they made another exciting discovery - fragments of seagrass meadows still hanging on beneath the surface. Like oysters, seagrass is a keystone species, basically the glue that holds an ecosystem together and supports a huge range of marine life. Without it, everything else starts to unravel. So from that point on, the mission became clear: restore both oysters and seagrass, and do it in a way that’s led by the community. Fast forward to today, and Seawilding has a core team of seven, a second oyster restoration project up in Loch Broom, and an incredible network of local supporters and volunteers who’ve been absolutely vital to making it all happen.

Right now, our work focuses on three main areas: restoring seagrass, restoring native oysters, and getting people and community groups involved through ocean literacy and citizen science programmes. At the heart of it all is one big goal - restoring biodiversity. On the seagrass side, we’ve been trialling different methods to work out what gives us the best results. After a lot of trial and error, rhizome transplantation has been the real breakthrough. It involves carefully lifting whole plants (roots and all) from our donor meadow, bundling them onshore with the help of volunteers, and then replanting them in our restoration areas. The hope is that they spread, connect and form healthy new meadows over time — and it’s working. Last year, our restored meadows looked almost identical to natural ones, which was a huge milestone and a UK first. This year, we’re testing the method in other lochs to see if it can be rolled out more widely. Seagrass meadows are like the lungs and nurseries of the sea — they clean the water, store carbon, stabilise the seabed, and give young fish and other marine life a safe place to grow and find food. 

With oysters, we grow them in floating nurseries until they’re big enough to survive on the seabed. We buy them in at fingernail size and release them when they’re closer to biscuit-sized giving them a much better chance against predators. The last couple of years have been frustrating as there’s a nationwide shortage of spat (baby oysters) from the UK’s two main hatcheries which means that we’ve only managed to procure about 10% of what we can on-grow in our nurseries which have capacity for around 300,000 oysters. The good news is we’re starting to see signs of natural breeding, which is really encouraging. 

This year, we’re trialing a small-scale hatchery of our own to try and overcome that bottleneck, producing oysters not only for our restoration work, but hopefully for other projects too. And when it comes to releasing oysters, it’s a real community event - locals of all ages line the shore and help throw them in. It’s hands-on, a bit chaotic, and a lot of fun. Native oysters are nature’s water filters - they help clean the sea by removing excess nutrients from the water, (an adult oyster can filter up to around 200 litres of water a day!) while their reefs create homes for lots of other wildlife and boost biodiversity.

It’s funny - I probably would’ve said the same before I started with Seawilding. The reality is, our seas are now just a fraction of what they once were. We’ve actually got a lovely audio piece on our website where local “old timers” share their memories of Loch Craignish - back when it was absolutely teeming with life. Shoals of fish, huge numbers of seabirds… it paints a pretty vivid picture, and it’s exactly why we’re doing this work - to try and bring some of that richness back.

That said, there’s still plenty to spot if you know where to look. You can see seals, dolphins, otters, crabs, starfish, jellyfish, rays even dogfish. For me though, it’s the smaller, slightly weirder stuff that steals the show - nudibranchs and peacock worms are definite favourites.

There are definitely a few surprises! Earlier this year, there was a humpback whale spotted in inner Loch Broom, which is pretty incredible. And you can sometimes see minke whales, and if you head further out towards the Outer Hebrides, there are basking sharks and orcas. If you go out at night, you can sometimes catch bioluminescent plankton lighting up the water - not a creature exactly, but seeing the sea glow blue at night is pretty magical and unexpected.

It’s not just one thing. Human activity has had the biggest impact, especially things like overfishing and historic overharvesting of species like native oysters, which were once the food of the masses. On top of that, there’s been a lot of physical disturbance to the seabed from things like dredging and trawling, which can be incredibly damaging to habitats like seagrass meadows, as well as marine construction projects like marinas and ferry terminals. Water quality is another big factor - increased nutrients from agriculture and runoff can throw the whole system out of balance. Individually, each of these might be manageable, but combined over decades, they’ve really taken their toll. The good news is that with the right restoration work, we’re starting to see that these systems can recover.

I think we’re starting to see a real shift - more and more people want to take direct action rather than just feel helpless in the face of it all. Grassroots initiatives are popping up everywhere, and when you give communities the knowledge and tools to restore their own marine environments, it creates a much deeper connection to the place. By putting restoration into the hands of the people who live and work along the coastline, you’re not just repairing habitats, you’re building a movement that can look after these places long-term. Education is a huge part of that too. Getting young people engaged early, giving them the skills and confidence to be part of the solution, that’s where real change starts.

On a smaller scale, it can be as simple as supporting local projects, reducing pollution, or even just starting conversations and raising awareness. And yes, writing to your MP and pushing for stronger protections really does matter - public pressure is powerful. At a larger scale, we need better protection and management of our seas - things like stronger marine protections, more responsible fishing practices, and investment in restoration. The science is there, we know what works - it’s about having the will to actually implement it. The encouraging thing is that when nature is given half a chance, it can bounce back. We just need to create the conditions for that to happen.

That’s a really tough one - and I think you’d get a different answer from everyone on the team! But for me, it has to be the impact on people. When we started, we didn’t fully realise just how powerful it would be for people to get properly hands-on - to help process the seagrass plants, release and monitor the oysters, and then actually see the results for themselves. Swimming over a restored meadow or spotting our oysters making the seabed their home… it makes it real in a way that nothing else does.

The climate and biodiversity crises can feel so huge and overwhelming, and it’s easy to feel powerless. But when people get involved in restoration, they can see that they’re part of the solution - that they’re actually making a difference. I remember putting my son to bed a few years ago, and he was feeling really anxious about everything he’d been hearing about the climate crisis. That weekend, we had an oyster release, and he came down and helped throw oysters back into the sea. That night, he was buzzing, no longer worried, much calmer and full of a real sense of achievement. And for me, that shift - from anxiety to hope - that’s the biggest achievement of all.

No two days are ever quite the same, which is part of the fun. It really depends on the time of year. Winter is a bit more behind-the-scenes - lots of planning for the year ahead, writing reports, fixing and maintaining kit, updating our website and generally getting everything ready for the busy season ahead. From spring through to autumn, it’s all hands on deck. Most days you’ll find the team in wetsuits, out in the water - setting up restoration sites, harvesting and planting seagrass, and then monitoring it to see what’s working (and what’s not). At the same time, our oyster nurseries need constant care - cleaning cages, counting and measuring oysters, and checking how they’re doing both in the nursery and out on the seabed.

We also try to capture as much as we can - photos and footage to share the story of what we’re doing - and we regularly host visitors and bring in volunteers to get stuck in alongside us. And then behind it all, there’s a whole other layer - logistics, fundraising, working with partners and stakeholders. One of the nice things about Seawilding is that it’s not just made up of marine biologists. We’ve got people from all sorts of backgrounds, from project management and fundraising to photography, film and environmental science. It really is a bit of everything.

I’m not sure it’s a “practice” as such, but one thing people might not expect is just how well we all get on - we’re proper mates. Our WhatsApp chat is mostly work-related, but it’s also full of banter, random anecdotes, and the odd holiday snap. It doesn’t feel like a typical 9–5 team. We genuinely enjoy spending time together, both in and out of the water. And I think that makes a big difference. When you’re doing this kind of work, that sense of camaraderie really carries you through.

It’s something we’re really excited about. The Restoration School is all about sharing what we’ve learned - the good, the bad, and everything in between - with other people who want to get involved in marine restoration. We get contacted all the time by community groups, organisations and individuals asking how they can start similar projects, and the reality is it’s not always straightforward. There’s everything from licensing and stakeholder engagement to biosecurity, site selection and the actual hands-on restoration work. So the idea behind the school is to break all of that down and make it accessible. It’s a mix of practical, hands-on learning and the behind-the-scenes knowledge you need to actually get a project off the ground - from restoring seagrass and oysters to understanding the logistics and challenges that come with it.

At its core, it’s about empowering more communities to take action. If we can share our experience and help others avoid some of the pitfalls, then hopefully we can speed up restoration efforts right around the coastline. It’s very much in keeping with what Seawilding is all about - giving people the tools, confidence and support to take ownership of their own bit of sea and start bringing it back to life.

There are loads of ways to get involved, whether you’re local or further afield. If you’re nearby, the best way is to come and join us in person. We regularly run volunteer days where you can get properly hands-on - everything from seagrass planting to oyster work. No experience needed, just a willingness to get stuck in (and usually a tolerance for cold water and getting mucky!). If you’re not able to be on site, there’s still plenty you can do. Following our work, sharing what we’re doing, and helping spread the word all makes a real difference. Raising awareness is a big part of building momentum for restoration.

You can also support us through donations or by taking part in our programmes like the Restoration School, which helps grow the wider movement. And honestly, even just starting conversations - with friends, family, or your local representatives - about the importance of healthy seas is hugely valuable. It all adds up.

In addition to our core work - seagrass restoration in Loch Craignish and oyster restoration in Loch Craignish and Loch Broom - we’ve got four really exciting projects happening this year. The first is our new Restoration School, where we’ll be sharing the knowledge and practical experience we’ve built up with other communities and organisations who want to start restoration projects of their own.

The second is our trial oyster hatchery, which we hope will help tackle the shortage of baby oysters and, in time, support not just our own work but other restoration efforts too.We’re also launching a new Youth Outreach Programme focused on secondary school and university students. It’s all about giving young people a better understanding of marine restoration, showing them career pathways to get involved, and building the confidence to have a voice in environmental decision-making.

And finally, we’re carrying out seagrass trials in other west coast lochs and coastal waters to see if the success we’ve had in Loch Craignish can be replicated elsewhere. If it can, then large-scale seagrass restoration across Scotland starts to feel much more achievable. So it’s a very exciting time for us.

A huge thank you to Tiziana at Seawilding for taking the time to chat to us! You can discover more about this amazing charity on their website, or you can keep up with the daily operations over on their Instagram. World Environment Day takes place on the 5th June so if you can, we'd recommend getting out there this weekend and spending some time appreciating our stunning shorelines. Remember to tag us in your adventures!