Gannets on the Bass Rock, Firth of Forth. ©Lorne Gill
This grant from SMEEF has enabled the appointment of the new role Seabird Restoration and Resilience Officer within NatureScot’s Marine Ecosystems team. A role which has been identified as crucial to ensuring priority predator reduction measures are carried out at the scale and pace necessary to address seabird declines, and supporting the delivery of biosecurity actions from the Scottish Seabird Conservation Action Plan.
Key to this will be to establish the Seabird Predator Reduction and Biosecurity Project Advisory Group (PAG) to coordinate, facilitate and develop a programme of work in relation to INNS eradication and biosecurity at seabird colonies.
Predator reduction projects require a long lead-in time prior to implementation. The completion of thorough project design and operational planning phases of this work are critical to ensure the success of the project. This role will therefore support the Scottish Government Portfolio of Compensation Measures for Seabirds, by laying the groundwork to produce compensation projects ready for implementation by a potential Scottish Marine Recovery Fund or other compensation structures for the marine renewable energy industry.
This role sits outside the statutory duties required of NatureScot and is jointly funded by SMEEF’s Seabird Resilience Fund and Crown Estate Scotland.
In 2025 SMEEF was able to provide a grant of £80,000 to support this work using resources donated to SMEEF by businesses and Crown Estate Scotland.