Ørsted is partnering with Lincolnshire and Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts to help restore the biodiversity around the Humber Estuary.

This flagship project will invest more than £2.5m to restore parts of the Humber on an ambitious scale not seen before, through the planting of 3 hectares (ha) of saltmarsh and 4 ha of seagrass, and the creation of a biogenic reef through the introduction of half a million native oysters. It will build on an ambitious programme of seagrass restoration work already underway between Ørsted ’s Hornsea 4 project and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

It follows a recent downgrade of the conservation status of the Humber Estuary, due to pollution and loss of habitat.

Climate change is one of the biggest drivers of biodiversity loss, and the Danish giant – which has made Grimsby its biggest UK base – is looking to address both elements.

Benj Sykes, head of environment, consents and external affairs at Orsted, said: “Now is the time for action on biodiversity. We know that the climate crisis is one of the biggest threats to our biodiversity and so we must start to implement tangible projects that will help restore nature.

The news story can be read here, with further information from the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and Ørsted here.