Mossy Earth – Wilder Firths (Linneachan nas Fhiadhaiche)
The vision of Wilder Firths (Linneachan nas Fhiadhaiche) is for the firths surrounding the Black Isle to be home to a resilient mosaic of biogenic habitats that support diverse and thriving ecosystems. Central to achieving and sustaining this vision are local communities that are connected to and invested in their coastal environment. The initiative, formerly known as Cromarty Seascape, is led by Mossy Earth and their locally based team.
Historically overlooked in the area, seagrass meadows are one of the focus habitats of Wilder Firths alongside native oyster (Ostrea edulis) reefs. Seagrass species in the area are dwarf eelgrass (Nanozostera noltei), common eelgrass (Zostera marina) and beaked tasselweed (Ruppia maritima). Common eelgrass encompasses variants that are found either intertidally or subtidally, whereas dwarf eelgrass and beaked tasselweed are only found in the intertidal zone.
Following extensive baseline and investigative surveys and trial seagrass translocations undertaken in 2024 supported by the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund (NRF), managed by NatureScot, the delivery of planting 4.2 hectares of intertidal seagrass meadow over three years will be supported by the Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF).
As well as collecting and planting seed with other members of the local community, the team will trial more experimental approaches such as transplanting seagrass with sediment (coring) and mechanised seed collection and planting. Small scale trials of intertidal seagrass coring, a method previously used by Restoration Forth, indicate that the method could be an effective way to restore seagrass meadows when compared with other methods such as seeding or transplanting bare root seagrass plants.