The Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF) is excited to announce a new Seabird Resilience Fund to help safeguard the future of Scotland’s precious seabirds. This significant £1.6m investment, funded by voluntary donations from a group of offshore renewable energy developers, aims to fund practical projects to protect seabirds from the many threats they face, both at sea and on land.
Thriving populations of seabirds are not only important for Scotland but globally. Twenty-four species have their regular breeding grounds here, approximately 60% of the world’s breeding population of great skua, 46% of the world’s northern gannet and 16% of the world’s Manx shearwater. This unique fund has the chance to support recovery and resilience that can contribute to global conservation goals.
To kick start the work of this valuable programme, SMEEF will fund biosecurity survey work on vulnerable island habitats in the 2025 season. Our island seabird populations are under real threat from invasive species, both animal predators, such as rats, and introduced plants that can cause habitat loss. Following development work over the summer SMEEF will announce a call for wider applications to the fund.
The Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund is hosted by NatureScot.
