Danny Renton, along with a small band of local conservationists, founded Seawilding, a marine charity based on the shores of Loch Craignish, in 2019 to restore two key habitats – native oysters and seagrass meadows.

The disappearance of oyster beds is part of a wider picture of declining ocean ecosystems globally, as climate change, overfishing and nutrient pollution from sewage and agricultural fertiliser has stripped away marine habitats.įor Ardfern, there remains hope this process can be reversed. In the US, researchers have warned that Florida's oyster reefs, already hard hit, could be being replaced by mangroves as the local climate shifts from subtropical to tropical. Globally, an estimated 85% of oyster reefs have been lost.

Wild oyster beds have seen huge declines across Europe and become one of its most endangered marine habitats. Before the mid-1800s, the country was home to huge reserves of native oysters, but these are now at a fraction of their former level, with wild native oyster populations dwindling by 95% mainly due to overfishing.Īt the same time, the UK's historic seagrass meadows – the flowering underwater plants that provide refuge for many underwater creatures – have shrunk by up to 92%, with roughly half this loss occurring in the past 90 years. For three years now, it has been home to one of Scotland's most innovative marine restoration projects, which aims to rewild – or 'seawild' – the loch.Īquatic life has disappeared from the UK's lakes, rivers and seas at an alarming rate. It is a story repeated often in Ardfern, a village of around 500 people scattered around Loch Craignish, where much of the underwater life of the loch has been decimated.īut this small rural community is taking action to turn this around.

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