About

Green Shores

Fringe Saltmarsh Restoration: A nature building solution to coastal flooding & erosion

Saltmarshes that fringe the margins of estuaries are coastal habitats that are valued for specialist flora and fauna, as carbon stores, and for coastal defence.

A view over an estuary with horizontal bands of differently coloured vegetation in the foreground, the water of the estuary and on the far bank the dark line of a forest. — A natural saltmarsh with a recognised pattern of zonation, which occurs when different plant communities form depending on tide height.

Unfortunately, many of Scotland’s saltmarshes and the biodiversity they support are under threat from shoreline degradation and climate change.

Green Shores is a long-standing initiative based on rolling projects that works with stakeholders and coastal communities to combat saltmarsh habitat loss.

Green Shores at the University of St Andrews is Scotland’s longest running coastal habitat restoration project, with over 25 years of saltmarsh restoration and research. Saltmarshes protect valuable land assets from coastal erosion and flooding, provide rare salt-adapted habitat and are one of the best habitats in the UK for carbon storage and as a nature-based solution in a rapidly changing climate. In 2024 we have been busy planting, propagating, carrying out research and monitoring work, and installing storm fencing to better protect newly established marshes in the early stages. We have been particularly delighted that in partnership with Dornoch Academy in the Highlands, we have created a second coastal plant hub, for pupils to help us grow transplants for the restoration effort.

Building upon award-winning restoration activities, our latest project is scaling improvements to the ecological status and increasing resilience of the saltmarsh habitat in the Dornoch Firth, and the Tay and the Eden Estuaries.

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This project is supported by the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot, and the University of St Andrews.