Save Scottish Seas Copy

A coalition of environmental charities, working with the collective vision of achieving healthy, well-managed seas, where wildlife and coastal communities are flourishing and ecosystems are protected, connected and thriving.

An Ocean Recovery Plan for Scotland

Scotland needs to commit to ambitious Ocean recovery targets. Governments across the UK have collectively failed to meet 11 of 15 Good Environmental Status (GES) indicators for the health of our seas required by 2020. With intertwined climate and nature crises and the declining health of our marine ecosystems, we urgently need transformative change to set Scotland’s seas on a decade of recovery to 2030.

Members of Scottish Environment LINK’s Save Scottish Seas coalition are calling on the Scottish Government to commit to ambitious ocean recovery targets to return Scotland seas to health, make them as resilient as possible to help in the fight against climate change and enable them to support coastal communities and livelihoods long into the future.

The Ocean Recovery Plan calls for:

Requirements in law to set and meet ocean recovery targets

Strengthening of Scotland’s MPA network to ensure at least 30% of Scotland’s seas are highly protected, with at least a third of that (so 10% Scotland’s seas) fully protected, by 2030

New policies and where necessary legislation to support a just transition to a modern, world-leading climate and nature friendly fishing industry

Significant investment in marine conservation and sustainability to match the scale of the nature and climate emergencies

The post of Marine Policy and Engagement officer is currently funded by the Marine Conservation Society. LINK’s Marine project is grateful to the John Ellerman Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and WWF Scotland for their previous funding.

The Save Scottish Seas campaign comprises the following organisations: