Marine and coastal restoration plan: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

1. Brief Summary

Type of proposal

Decision of a strategic nature relating to the rights and wellbeing of children

Name the proposal and describe its overall aims and intended purpose.

The Marine and Coastal Restoration Plan sets out objectives and actions needed to accelerate active marine and coastal restoration in Scotland and support communities interested in undertaking restoration. The plan defines active restoration as habitat (re)creation and species (re)introduction; examples include seagrass or saltmarsh planting, native oyster restoration and sand dune replenishment.

The desired outcomes for this first plan are to:

• achieve a better understanding across marine users of where active restoration can best take place and how we can prioritise species and habitats
• maximise ecological benefits and social and economic opportunities from active restoration
• support community-led restoration and enable investment in restoration efforts

Producing a Marine and Coastal Restoration Plan is a commitment by Scottish Ministers under the first Delivery Plan for the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy (SBS). The Marine and Coastal Restoration Plan will support actions towards Objective 1 of the SBS: to accelerate restoration and regeneration. The plan supports the National Outcome: ‘We value, enjoy, protect and enhance our environment’.

The purpose of restoration is to improve the quality, size or geographic distribution (spread) of a habitat or species. Restoring marine and coastal habitats and species can play an important role in tackling the twin nature and climate crisis by improving our resilience to climate change and contributing to statutory and non-statutory commitments, such as good environmental status (GES) under the Marine Strategy Regulations 2010. Restoration can also have wider ecosystem benefits, ensuring that we can continue to benefit from the sea for our food security and economic opportunities.

The Marine and Coastal Restoration Plan is a national level policy, and its scope covers the inshore and offshore marine area as well as terrestrial areas where restoration would be beneficial to marine species and habitats. The marine restoration sector in Scotland is currently relatively small-scale, and mainly concentrated in coastal and island areas.

The plan is structured into five themes including:

• restoration opportunities and priorities
• regulatory environment
• funding and finance
• supply chains and communities
• evidence and monitoring

Each theme tackles a different aspect of what is needed to accelerate restoration in Scotland’s coast and waters (including terrestrially, where it directly benefits marine and coastal habitats, or species that spend at least part of their life cycle in the marine environment). Under each theme objectives are set out, followed by actions that will be taken to deliver those objectives.

Key Terms

Habitat: The natural home or environment for an organism, providing the necessary food, water, shelter, and space. This includes both the living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) factors of that environment, such as plants, animals, and soil.

Species: A group of organisms capable of interbreeding freely with each other but not with members of other species.

Ecosystems: A dynamic interlinked complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as an ecological unit. An ecosystem can range in size, e.g. from the size of an intertidal pool to the size of the Earth’s oceans.

Active Restoration: Habitat (re)creation and species (re)introduction, and examples include those noted in the introduction like seagrass or saltmarsh planting, native oyster restoration and sand dune replenishment. The plan covers coastal, inshore (0 to 12 nautical miles) and offshore (12 to 200 nautical miles), and terrestrial restoration where it directly benefits marine and coastal habitats, or species that spend at least part of their life cycle in the marine environment.

Pressure Management: sometimes referred to as passive restoration, is the management of pressures to enable recovery of habitats and species. This can include restricting human activities, improving water quality, or measures such as management of predators, invasive, non-native species.

Start date of proposal’s development: June 2024

Start date of CRWIA process: October 2024

2. With reference given to the requirements of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, which aspects of the proposal are relevant to/impact upon children’s rights?

The Marine and Coastal Restoration Plan does not set out any particular actions with regards to children and will not have any direct impacts on the rights and wellbeing of children and young people. However, there are likely to be indirect impacts as a result of implementation of the plan.

Limited elements of the plan are potentially relevant to, or impact upon, the rights of children and young people up to the age of 18, as this plan is primarily related to accelerating active restoration. Upon implementation of actions within the plan, and if its aims are achieved, with respect to the 2024 Act, contributions to the following articles could be made:

Article 6: Right to Life, Survival and Development

The plan aims to accelerate active restoration in Scotland. Nature restoration can contribute directly to increased biodiversity (the variety and amount of plant and animal life in an area) and also provide wider benefits such as improving air and water quality, reducing the severity and frequency for flooding and providing areas for children to explore, play, learn and develop in both the urban and rural areas.

The UNCRC’s General Comment No. 26 (2023) highlights that “the climate emergency, the collapse of biodiversity and pervasive pollution, is an urgent and systemic threat to children’s rights globally”. It also clarifies the obligations of States to address environmental harm and climate change and that children have a right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

Article 12: The Right of children to participate in decisions which affect them

Children and young people may be impacted by decisions made about their living environments and provision should be made to involve them in decision making processes and ensure their right to express views freely. Many of the actions of the plan will require multiple parties working together and implementation of the plan will involve a range of groups which may include young people.

Article 13: Right to seek and receive information

A number of actions under the plan aim to improve the availability and accessibility of information and guidance relating to active restoration, for example, developing a ‘one-stop shop’ for guidance, information and knowledge exchange. Currently, information available is across multiple sources and so this action will help to improve the accessibility of information and knowledge exchange for all. While this will predominantly be aimed at supporting those involved in restoration work and wider marine users, we will also consider how information about restoration could be accessible and of benefit to children.

Article 24: Health and health services, Article 27: Adequate standard of living

Regular access to nature and green/blue spaces has been shown to have both physical and mental health benefits to all ages, including children. When implemented it is anticipated that accelerating active restoration and increasing restored areas will increase children’s access to improved natural environments. Improving physical, mental and social development and subsequently an improved standard of living. Opportunities would also be anticipated for older children through employment and volunteering to train in the skills required for the restoration sector.

Article 29: Goals of Education – respect of the natural environment

One of the objectives of the plan is to create socio-economic opportunities for communities. Increasing participation, engagement and creating local opportunities for education in communities. Children play a key role not only in putting into practice knowledge learned about nature but also influencing older generations within their social networks. As noted above, there are also actions under the plan which aim to improve the availability and accessibility of information about restoration.

3. Please provide a summary of the evidence gathered which will be used to inform your decision-making and the content of the proposal

Evidence from research/reports

There is a wide range of research and literature to support the benefits of a healthy environment and nature on people, including children and young people.

The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review

The independent review concludes that “our economies, livelihoods and well-being all depend on our most precious asset: Nature.” It explains how we rely on nature to provide us with a wide range of ecosystem services that include the food, water and air we need to survive, regulation of our climate and numerous recreational opportunities – all of which are fundamental to our physical and mental health and our wellbeing.

Children’s perceptions of environment and health

The report explores children's understanding of the role that neighbourhood plays in their health and well-being. The paper reveals that children have a deep understanding of the link between environment and health. The report concludes with recommendations made by the children themselves, including access to affordable activities and improved open spaces.

Child and adolescent health and wellbeing

This review highlights that children and young people want their views to be heard and to make a meaningful contribution to making things better. Involving young people in decision-making requires supporting them to take meaningful, responsible, age-appropriate roles, working in co-operation with professionals and parents/carers.

Participation in positive activities has been shown to improve psychological wellbeing, self-perception and self-esteem, and skills development. Volunteering also has wider benefits, strengthening community cohesion and public services, which in turn act as protective factors for young people's health and wellbeing.

Visiting natural environments

The study found that individuals residing farther from coastal areas tended to visit natural environments less frequently. Furthermore, there is strong evidence that lower-income neighbourhoods often lie further away from such green or blue spaces, making access particularly difficult for parents of young children.

Youth Survey on NatureScot’s Corporate Plan 2022-2026

The report found that many Scottish children and young people feel there are barriers to their involvement in contributing to a nature-rich future. Many children and young people felt nature was important to them, with increased funding for restoration projects ranked as one of the most important to young people. However, the vast majority were not involved in any nature or conservation activities with a lack of relevant opportunities, skills and jobs highlighted as the main barriers to their involvement in contributing to a nature-rich future.

Young People’s Participation in Decision-Making

This research indicates that ‘young people were least likely to be supported to participate in decision-making around transport, housing and regeneration of their local area. Whilst it is more common for young people to be supported to participate in decisions being made about them as individuals (i.e. around the services they receive), or around sharing their ideas for changing policies, strategies or services, the data suggests that there are opportunities for young people to be involved at all levels’.

Children's Parliament - Climate Assembly 2021, Learning for sustainability Part 1

Children highlighted the growing frequency of extreme weather events, such as flooding and storms, and their detrimental impacts on local environments and infrastructure through for example, increased flooding and coastal erosion. However, many children highlighted that they had received little to no education about climate change and a lack of outdoor education.

Evidence from stakeholders

The Scottish Government held a public consultation on the draft plan, which ran from the 29th of July to 19th October 2025. The respondents included both interested individuals and organisations. Additionally, the draft plan was developed by a stakeholder advisory group and drew on feedback from sectoral interests and views. Stakeholder workshops were held in February and March 2025 and provided an early opportunity for attendees to have sight of the developing plan.

As part of the consultation, respondents were asked “Do you think that the objective and actions proposed in this draft plan will have an impact (positive or negative) on children’s rights and wellbeing?”.

A few respondents expressed concerns on adverse impacts from restoration activities which may indirectly impact children or young people’s families, for example due to any future restrictions on other activities as a result of a protection mechanism for habitats and species undergoing restoration. Generally, responses indicated that restoration would have an improvement to children’s wellbeing through improved biodiversity, cleaner air and water and greater opportunities to engage directly with nature, resulting in improved physical and mental health. Potential benefits highlighted also included involvement with local communities, further education, employment and volunteering opportunities and fostering a connection with their environment.

Consultation/feedback directly from children and young people

The representative organisation Young Sea Changers Scotland were involved in the development of the draft plan via a Stakeholder Advisory Group. In addition, fourteen drop-in style information events were held in locations around Scotland during the formal consultation period for the draft plan, which provided opportunities for the team to speak directly to children and young people, for example Ullapool Sea Savers. Consideration will also be given to how best to consult with and gain feedback from children and young people during implementation of actions under the plan.

4. Further to the evidence described at ‘3’ have you identified any 'gaps' in evidence which may prevent determination of impact? If yes, please provide an explanation of how they will be addressed

Evidence on the full extent of impacts specifically from accelerating active restoration in marine and coastal areas on children and young people is limited and therefore the measures required to prevent any interference with children’s rights and wellbeing. Therefore, consideration of potential impacts should be ongoing throughout the lifecycle of this and subsequent Marine and Coastal Restoration Plans.

5. Analysis of Evidence

The academic literature relating to the benefits of regular access to and experience of nature, and the responses to 2025 consultation all suggest that the implementation of the the plan will have a positive effect on children’s rights and welfare.

Access to educational opportunities and involvement in decisions made around restoring the marine and coastal environments could also have a positive impact on children and young people through being able to contribute to a nature-rich future. It is also possible that the plans actions to provide greater accessibility of information and improve knowledge exchange could have a positive impact on children and young people’s right to seek and receive information.

Biodiversity loss is a global issue and all children and young people in Scotland may potentially be impacted. Different areas and localities of Scotland may experience the impacts of biodiversity loss in varying ways. Children and young people living in close proximity to restoration activities may see more positive impacts from the plan by having more opportunities to participate.

6. What changes (if any) have been made to the proposal as a result of this assessment?

As the results of this assessment are that the implementation of the plan will be positive for children, no changes have been made to the proposals in either document.

Further assessment of potential impacts on children’s rights and wellbeing will be undertaken as necessary when implementing individual actions under the plan and opportunities will be sought to engage children and young people. This will ensure children’s rights and wellbeing are considered moving forward and throughout the lifecycle of the plan, including in relation to more detailed policy development.