In today’s guest blog, WWF Scotland’s Dr Lyndsey Dodds shares the successes of Restoration Forth – an award-winning project working to restore European flat oysters to their natural home.

There are moments in nature restoration when a number tells a much bigger story. For Restoration Forth, that number is now more than 60,000: the number of European flat oysters returned to the waters of the Firth of Forth.

It is a milestone worth celebrating. Once, the Firth of Forth supported vast oyster beds, forming one of the most important oyster habitats in north-east Atlantic waters. They were part of the area’s local food culture and coastal economy. But overfishing, pollution and industrial development pushed them to local extinction by the early 1900s.

Now, more than a century later, Restoration Forth is helping to bring them back. This ambitious partnership project has been working in collaboration with enthusiastic communities around the Forth to restore European flat oysters and seagrass meadows.  These two species work brilliantly together and can support healthier, more resilient seas. Thanks to support from the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot, the project has now introduced over 60,000 European flat oysters to the waterway, doubling the original target and going a long way to helping the area recover.

A volunteer from the Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council releases oysters into the Firth of Forth © Maverick Photo Agency

Oysters may be small but don’t be fooled, they are mighty. Known as ecosystem engineers, they help stabilise the seabed, create shelter for marine life and improve water quality by filtering particles from the water.  And even better, as oyster reefs grow, they can provide habitat for fish, crabs, sea snails, sponges and many other species. Alongside seagrass restoration, they are part of a living coastal system that can help store carbon, reduce erosion and support biodiversity.

The success of the project has only been possible because of the amazing people involved. The project partners, and the many volunteers, charities and local groups, have all spent hundreds of hours preparing, cleaning, moving, deploying and monitoring the oysters. Communities from across the Firth of Forth have taken part in events, citizen science and practical restoration work, building skills and confidence as well as restoring habitats.

Monitoring oysters with volunteers from the Scottish Sensory Centre
© Emily Thorp.

The monitoring carried out so far is encouraging, with oysters at deployment sites showing strong survival rates. This is important as the long-term aim is not simply to place oysters back in the sea, but to help establish a population that can thrive, reproduce and become self-sustaining over time.

While we’re delighted with the success so far of Restoration Forth, it’s part of something much bigger: the growing momentum for marine restoration in Scotland.  Restoring nature at sea isn’t easy.  It’s complex, careful work and requires good science, local knowledge, long-term commitment and supportive policy. But this milestone shows what is possible when communities and organisations work together with a shared vision.

Monitoring oysters © Emily Thorp.

Happily, the return of more than 60,000 oysters is not the end of the story. It is a hopeful beginning and a sign that the Forth’s lost oyster beds can begin to recover, and that Scotland’s seas can be places of restoration as well as protection. For the oysters, the Forth is home again. For all of us, it is a reminder that nature can return when we give it the chance.

Dr Lyndsey Dodds is Policy & Advocacy Manager at WWF Scotland.

Learn more about Restoration Forth on the WWF website.

Current project partners: Balanced Horizon, The Ecology Centre, Heriot-Watt University, Marine Conservation Society, Scottish Seabird Centre, Edinburgh Shoreline, Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, WWF. Previous partners: Project Seagrass and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.