This story is a part of the GenOcean campaign — an official Ocean Decade campaign showcasing Decade Actions, collaborating organizations and ocean leaders that focus on youth and citizen science opportunities to help anyone, anywhere be the change the ocean needs.
With the second half of the Ocean Decade underway, the Shetland Islands, a remote archipelago in Scotland’s far north, are making waves of their own to contribute to sustainable ocean use both locally and globally. With support from the Marine Fund Scotland, the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) Shetland has launched a new Guidance for Marine Restoration and Enhancement, co-designed with local communities to restore and sustain Shetland’s marine ecosystems for generations to come.
“This document is unique because it’s not just about science or policy, it is rooted deeply in the experiences and voices of Shetland’s residents, who identified the challenges and opportunities that matter most to them throughout the project’s engagement process,” says Tanya Riley, lead researcher and Marine Scientist at UHI Shetland.
It combines science, local knowledge and community priorities into one place-based vision for the future of Shetland’s seas and addresses three Ocean Challenges:
2 – Protect and restore ecosystems and biodiversity
3 – Sustainably nourish the global population
7 – Expand the Global Ocean Observing System
A Plan Shaped by People and Place
The Guidance on Marine Restoration and Enhancement grew from months of active collaboration and dialogue with fishers, aquaculture workers, environmental NGOs, tourism operators and island residents — all of whom rely on Shetland’s rich marine environment.
“Community input was absolutely essential,” says Riley. “We wanted to create a document that was built from the ground up, one that reflects what matters to the people who live and work here.”
This approach reflects a core tenet of the Ocean Decade: for ocean science to be truly transformative, it must be inclusive and co-designed in a multistakeholder environment. The principles are captured in the Ocean Decade brochure Co-designing the science we need for the ocean we want, which emphasizes shared ownership between science and society.
Shetland’s marine environment is a vital part of local life economically, culturally and ecologically. The archipelago’s waters support seabirds, seals, otters, diverse fisheries and unique habitats like seagrass meadows and maerl beds (made by calcifying algae). But like many coastal areas, Shetland faces pressure from climate change, pollution and marine development.
This new plan seeks to reverse damage where possible, prevent further harm and lay the groundwork for sustainable use of the sea. And it’s not just a plan for Shetland, it’s a template for how to include community in the management of unique marine environments around the world.
“This document and guiding principles were developed specifically for Shetland,” says Riley. “However, the design and co-creation process behind it offer a model that can be applied to other marine environments and coastal areas, especially where local residents are closely tied to the sea.”
From Guiding Principles to Practical Action
At the heart of the document are 11 community-driven guiding principles designed to shape future marine restoration and enhancement in the Shetland Islands. These include:
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- Using long-term data and local knowledge to understand change
- Safeguarding cultural marine heritage
- Engaging local stakeholders at every step
- Ensuring actions are scaled appropriately to Shetland’s context
- Adopting adaptive management with built-in monitoring
- Encouraging transparent data sharing
You can read the full list here.
New sub-projects are regularly added to the platform. The most recent, Sand Spy, proposes to annotate and inventory meiofauna, microscopic animals living in the sand.
The plan identifies five key themes for action:
- Access – enhancing responsible coastal access that minimises disturbance
- Active restoration – such as seagrass planting or species reintroduction
- Communication, education and awareness – fostering deeper understandings of the marine environment
- Pressure management – reducing the impact of marine debris, water pollution and invasive non-native predators
- Research, innovation and knowledge – supporting novel marine restoration and enhancement techniques guided by local baseline data, continuous monitoring
It also features inspiring local case studies, including Shetland’s annual beach clean-up known as “Da Voar Redd Up”, the successful “Fishing for Litter” program and conservation-led projects like the Hermaness boardwalk.
“This plan highlights local real-world case studies in Shetland identified through the project by local residents, which demonstrate the important work that has already been done to restore and enhance our marine environment,” says Riley. “The five themes set out in the document are broad yet focused, reflecting the full range of opportunities for meaningful action. Each one is important in its own right and together they offer a holistic approach to addressing challenges and opportunities for marine restoration and enhancement as identified by the Shetland community.”
Looking Forward
While the plan is advisory, its influence is already being felt. It is intended to support a range of future initiatives that could be supported by various funding sources, including government, developer-led and philanthropic efforts and complement the Shetland Islands Regional Marine Plan and Scotland’s forthcoming national plan for marine and coastal restoration.
This initiative is also a reminder that sustainable ocean action starts at the shore with people, place and purpose. The University of the Highlands and Islands encourages conservationists, practitioners, on-the-ground organizations and individual ocean advocates to use the Marine Restoration and Enhancement in Shetland as a template for their own coastal management practices and community-centric approaches to protecting their vital marine resources.
“This isn’t just about one project,” says Riley. “It’s about creating a lasting framework for how the Shetland Islands can restore and enhance its marine spaces in ways that make sense locally, but contribute globally.”
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