Arran, Islay, Hebrides and Loch Craignish amongst recipients of Marine Environment Fund

Hebridean whales, Arran reefs and Loch Gair oysters have received grants during the first two years of the Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF) which released its impact report on Thursday June 8.

 

A total of 45 projects, many on the west coast, have received more than £3.2 million since the fund was launched in 2021.

 

The Community of Arran Seabed Trust was awarded £136,000 in the 2021-2022 funding for a survey vessel to help with marine restoration, including nurturing and establishing biogenic reefs in Arran waters.

 

Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) received £101,087 to buy new survey equipment for its sailing vessel and to revamp its citizen science reporting app, Whale Track.

 

Alison Lomax of HWDT said: “The funding allowed for the first substantial upgrade of the acoustic setup on Silurian since HWDT’s acoustic monitoring began more than 20 years ago.

 

"It has marked a transformative step-change in our capability to assess the changing soundscape of the west coast marine environment and unearth what is potentially causing barriers to nature recovery in Scotland’s seas.”

 

Other projects in the west include a grant of £25,403 to Seawilding to install seagrass nursery equipment in Loch Craignish and £10,549 to MacArthur Green to establish whether a viable population of native oysters exists in Loch Gair.

 

On Islay, the RSPB received £13,414 to erect fencing at RSPB Loch Gruinart to protect the wetland habitat from grazing animals and prevent erosion. Meanwhile, part of the University of St Andrews Blue Carbon Lab award is to include equipment to investigate seasonal Tope aggregations off Coll and Tiree.

 

The largest single funding award to date has been to Marine Scotland, which received £472,000 to buy a MultiBeam EchoSounder system.

 

Established to help bridge the green finance gap for Scotland’s marine and coastal environments, SMEEF supplements government funding allowing business sectors to voluntarily contribute to the grant pot.

 

£2.9 million of the fund has come from the Nature Restoration Fund, with almost £400,000 from private finance, primarily from the offshore wind industry.

 

Sarah Brown, SMEEF project manager, added: “It’s wonderful to see all these creative and vital projects coming to life, supported with this innovative new type of funding.

 

"This fund supports the recovery and enhancement of our rich marine environment, helping to ensure Scotland’s spectacular coasts and seas are healthy, resilient and productive for future generations.

 

”We know there are plenty more great projects out there that we would love to support  but we need more funds if we are going to scale up our efforts to recover nature in our seas. Please get in touch if you would like to help.”

 

A list of projects that have received funding and the fund's impact report are available on the SMEEF website.