HMC colleagues Ness Smith, Hayley Hinchen, Audrey Jones, Lydia Koehler and Zoe Pearson recently had the opportunity to attend the ReMeMaRe (Restoring Meadows, Marshes and Reefs) conference, an important event in the field of coastal restoration, held in Scarborough. Here, Zoe shares her experience of ReMeMaRe and offers reflections on the diverse topics and insights from the event.
The vision of ReMeMaRe is to restore key estuarine and coastal habitats that benefit people and nature, with a specific goal to ‘restore at least 15% of our priority habitats along the English Coast by 2043.’ The conference offers a unique opportunity for those interested and involved in restoration science to share goals, learnings and insights into these important habitats across the UK, with representatives from government bodies, non-government organisations, academic institutions, restoration specialists, marine industries and businesses as well as non-marine specialists such as insurance brokers attending the event.
Observations and Discussions
The conference included sessions focussing on the numerous aspects involved in habitat restoration to provide a holistic overview of the restoration process. Highlights included the mechanisms through which practical restoration is delivered, funding workstreams focussed towards enabling restoration, other mechanisms to support nature restoration (such as marine planning and land management), the challenges associated with coastal restoration projects, knowledge/evidence gaps and wider monitoring as well as restoration through collaboration and integrated multi-habitat/seascape restoration.
Seascape Connectivity
The theme of seascape restoration, known as the ‘restoration of multiple habitats concurrently or sequentially to restore functionality and connectivity across the mosaic of habitats in the marine ecosystem’ is of particular interest, due to its holistic approach to restoring marine habitats. Seascape restoration acknowledges the intrinsic linkages between seagrass meadows, kelp forests, saltmarshes and reef habitats (and beyond) as they provide multiple ecosystem functions and services and support an array of marine species across their different life stages.
Joanne Preston, of the University of Portsmouth, presented on a widely collaborative project focussing on recognising ecological connectivity pathways across marine habitats, and identifying where this connectivity may provide an uplift of ecosystem service delivery, to create a roadmap to achieve seascape restoration of coastal habitats. An excerpt of the report ‘Restoring Our Seascapes’, one of the outputs of this work published in 2024 by Blue Marine Foundation (available here), is below which brilliantly shows the interlinkages between coastal habitats and the services they provide.
Dr Graham Underwood, of the University of Essex, also presented on the seascape-focussed project ‘REWRITE: Rewilding and Restoration of Intertidal Sediment Ecosystems’ which aims to explore the use of nature-based solutions to rewild intertidal soft sediment seascapes (seagrass meadows, saltmarsh and mudflats) whilst considering ecosystem functions and potential regulating services (such as carbon sequestration and coastal protection), provisioning services (such as spawning/nursery and foraging habitat) and cultural services provided by these habitats. Learn more about the ‘REWRITE’ project here. Rosalie Wright of Blue Marine Foundation also presented on the ‘Solent Seascape Project’, a collaborative project which aims to restore multiple marine and coastal habitats within The Solent. Find out more about the ‘Solent Seascapes’ project here.
The Importance of Seascape Connectivity
Understanding the functions and services provided by coastal habitats and acknowledging the connectivity between them is critical to better understanding how these habitats support and benefit each other, as well as how the benefits provided scale up to the wider ecosystem and support human values (such as through the provision of cultural importance and coastal protection). This in turn will allow us to identify the risks and potential damages associated with poor habitat condition on a multitude of different scales and thus aid in the prioritisation of restoration actions.
How Can the Seascapes Approach be Applied?
Currently, the focus of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) policy in the UK is to protect individual features rather than to enable the recovery of larger parts of the marine environment; as such, MPAs are designated and managed to protect specific features from specific anthropogenic impacts, such as fishing and offshore construction.
Application of the seascape lens for designating, assessing and managing MPAs could instead offer a more holistic overview of the marine ecosystem and provide opportunities for wider ecosystem recovery, beyond that of specific features, which would be especially beneficial for rare or sensitive mobile species that travel between multiple habitats. Some MPAs, such as the Lyme Bay Reserve, have begun to utilise the “whole site approach”; a seascape model whereby a site is designated to encompass and protect a mosaic of different habitats and features from destructive activities that are banned across the whole site (opposed to only on habitat features deemed to be sensitive). Other fishing methods are then managed individually depending on their potential impacts to the habitats and species using the Reserve. Utilising the whole-site approach to designating and managing MPAs encompassing different, interlinked habitats could facilitate connectivity across the mosaic of habitats in the marine ecosystem and protect the habitats within to boost ecosystem functionality and regulating, provisioning and cultural services.
Awareness of seascape connectivity could also be utilised when designing habitat creation and restoration projects to achieve greatest success. Taking a holistic view of an area (opposed to a narrower focus on individual habitats), such as in the ‘Solent Seascapes’ project could allow restoration scientists to prioritise the delivery of habitat restoration based not only on the condition of the habitats but also on the functions and services provided by the different habitats within the interconnected area. Knowledge of species life histories and their connectivity across habitats within the area could then be used to prioritise restoration projects, and achieve maximum success; for example, a vulnerable species may have ample foraging grounds but degraded spawning habitat which may significantly impact their population and distribution, leading to the prioritisation and restoration of spawning habitat to restore the species and support its long-term recovery.
Zoe’s experience at ReMeMaRe was eye-opening to the intrinsic challenges and solutions facing restoration scientists. However, the need for more holistic, less-siloed restoration projects was clear, with new projects changing the face of how habitat restoration is undertaken already underway. There was also an overarching need for increased support, whether this be easier-access funding streams or streamlined marine licensing processes to facilitate habitat restoration at scale. The conference also highlighted the need to consider wider factors when restoring habitats; that water quality, pollution and external pressures will influence the success of a restoration project irrespective of the lens through which the project is undertaken. Overall, facilitating holistic restoration and finding solutions to restoration challenges will be key to progressing toward the ReMeMaRe’s restoration target as well as meeting the UK’s Net Gain and Net Zero targets.