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The regulatory system in England and Wales is the primary obstacle to restoring marine habitats at scale, according to a new report from the Blue Marine Foundation. Coastal Comeback argues that a licensing regime designed to control industrial development is being applied, largely unchanged, to projects whose purpose is ecological recovery, and sets out a roadmap for reform. It was launched at the ReMeMaRe conference in Scarborough on 8 July.
The scale of loss
UK marine habitats have declined steeply over the past century. The report cites the loss of around 95 per cent of native oyster reefs, 85 per cent of saltmarsh and more than 90 per cent of seagrass meadows, driven by physical disturbance, pollution, overexploitation and climate change. Reversing that decline requires active restoration, and while scientific understanding, public support and the number of restoration initiatives are all growing, the report says most activity remains small in scale and fragmented. It notes just one established seascape-scale project in the UK, the Solent Seascape Project, against around seven comparable efforts across Europe.
Where the system falls short
The core problem the report identifies is that restoration is treated like commercial development. Projects face the same complex, lengthy and costly permissions, with approval often taking a year or more, involving multiple agencies and landowners, and costing tens of thousands of pounds before any oysters are laid or seagrass planted. The report also points to specific legal obstacles, including restoration materials being classified as waste, rigid feature-based assessments, and the absence of any statutory duty on regulators to support the recovery of marine ecosystems.
The proposed reforms
Blue Marine calls for a dedicated licensing pathway for restoration, distinct from industrial development, with assessment, evidence requirements and fees scaled to ecological risk and project size. That would include a single-entry application process, clearer cross-regulator guidance, and decision-making that treats restoration as a beneficial activity by weighing long-term environmental gain against the cost of inaction.
The report argues that much of this is achievable using powers government and its agencies already hold, rather than requiring new primary legislation. Blue Marine says it intends to test the proposals in practice alongside government, regulators and restoration practitioners. The summary report is accompanied by a full technical document, including case studies and a legal review by the Lifescape Project, and the work was supported by the Endangered Landscapes and Seascapes Programme, managed by the Cambridge Conservation Initiative in partnership with Arcadia.
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