Future Tides is a landmark 1.5-hectare seagrass restoration project in Montrose Basin, led by Robocean in partnership with the Scottish Marine Environment Enhancement Fund (SMEEF). Located on Scotland’s east coast, Montrose Basin is an enclosed estuary and wildlife reserve that already hosts one of the country’s largest intertidal seagrass meadows, making it a prime site to prove next-generation, tech-enabled blue carbon restoration.
Over 2026–2028, Robocean will deploy its amphibious Meadow Maker robots to deliver precision seagrass restoration across 15,000 m² of intertidal flats, using locally sourced donor material to expand and stabilise existing meadows. This robotic approach dramatically accelerates planting on complex terrain that is difficult, dangerous, and expensive to restore by hand, unlocking scalable seagrass recovery in a nationally important site.
By boosting seagrass cover in Montrose Basin, Future Tides will enhance nursery habitat for fish and invertebrates, support internationally important bird populations, and lock away additional blue carbon in Scotland’s coastal waters. The project embeds meaningful community engagement, inviting volunteers, and basin users to take part in monitoring, data collection, and donor material collection, building long-term stewardship for this iconic estuary.
Future Tides positions Montrose as a flagship living lab for robotic seagrass restoration, generating evidence, methods, and momentum that can be replicated across Scottish estuaries and beyond.
SMEEF has been able to commit to a grant of £187,000 to support this work between 2026-28 using resources donated by SSEN Distribution to SMEEF.”