30 Jan 2024

Businesses and marine organisations in Scotland’s coastal communities will benefit from £14 million in grants from the Marine Fund Scotland 2023-24. A total of 91 projects, with grants ranging from just under £1,000 up to £1.6 million, will support innovation and sustainable practices for the marine economy, including work to reduce carbon emissions. Projects include: […]

30 Jan 2024

A new map-based digital tool will make plans for shoreline management easier to access, understand and use for coastal practitioners and the public alike, the Environment Agency has announced. The Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) Explorer will enable coastal practitioners and local planners to find the information they need more easily. It will also improve the Environment Agency’s […]

30 Jan 2024

Helen Wakeham, Director of Water Transformation at the Environment Agency delivered a keynote speech at the annual Coastal Futures Conference in London. Here, Helen shares her thoughts on the history and future of our estuarine, coastal, and marine environments and how the Environment Agency and others can make a real difference. Over the past thirty […]

30 Jan 2024

Beaches and dunes are becoming increasingly trapped between rising sea levels and our towns and cities. Researchers writing in the journal Nature found that when dropped on a random beach anywhere in the world, you only need to walk 390 metres on average to find the nearest road or building. And while that short walking […]

30 Jan 2024

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Ocean has published the inquiry report “The Ocean: Inquiry into the Future of Ocean Technology”, which highlights “the huge, potential that ocean technology can bring to UK marine science, discusses the current challenges in developing and scaling ocean technology, and provides key recommendations to Government focused on improving data, […]

30 Jan 2024

Ten projects designed to highlight good practice in tackling coastal erosion have secured a share of more than £1m from the Scottish Government’s Coastal Change Adaptation Programme. Due to be delivered in 2024-25, the projects cover eight local authority areas and include plans to enhance natural defences to help reduce the rate of erosion and […]

30 Jan 2024

Researchers have found that two-thirds of hermit crabs species were pictured in “artificial shells” of plastic waste. The finding are published in the journal Science of the Total Environment and are based on analysis of photos, taken by wildlife enthusiasts, and published online. The researchers trawled the internet for pictures of Hermit crabs using the iEcology (internet Ecology) research […]

30 Jan 2024

Europe’s offshore wind industry brought online a record 4200MW of offshore wind capacity in 2023. The amount was up 40% on the 1.7GW installed in 2022, according to figures published by WindEurope. The Netherlands, France and the UK installed the most new capacity. Offshore wind investments in Europe also reached a new record. A total […]