Scottish blue carbon action plan

Summary of all actions

Saltmarsh

1. Monitor greenhouse gas fluxes on Scottish saltmarsh. At the end of 2024, the Scottish Government and NatureScot launched a project to set up a Scottish saltmarsh greenhouse gas flux tower to monitor carbon dioxide. This project will run for multiple years and will contribute to a broader UK network of towers, providing insights into greenhouse gas emissions at a Scottish site. Following procurement of the flux tower, partners will work together to identify a suitable site and complete installation. The work is being led by the Scottish Government as part of the UKBCEP that aims to support the inclusion of saltmarsh habitat in the UK greenhouse gas inventory. At the end of each year, the findings of the project will be reviewed and consideration given to its longer-term future, including scope for expanding the network to other Scottish saltmarsh locations.

2. Improve maps of saltmarsh habitat extent. Work is being trialled on the potential to develop a semi-automated model, utilising remote sensing of topography and vegetation, to support efforts to map the extent of Scottish saltmarsh in a cost-effective manner. Initial work has been progressed by JNCC and NatureScot. Based on the outcome of the trial, further consideration will be given to the potential role of Earth Observation and other remote-sensing techniques towards future mapping and monitoring of Scottish saltmarshes at a range of spatial scales.

3. LiDAR Mapping. The Scottish Government will undertake a programme of LiDAR remote sensing mapping that will begin in 2025. The data will be hosted on Scotland’s spatial data portal. As part of this programme, coastal surveys will be timed to coincide with low water spring tides to capture intertidal areas. The work will help to define the current extent of key coastal habitats and landforms (including saltmarsh) and will inform understanding of future coastal change. This collection of the first ever full LiDAR map of Scotland was announced by the First Minister at the NFU Scotland AGM on the 7 February 2025. This information will be used to improve the maps on saltmarsh habitat.

4. Understand saltmarsh health and pressures. Work will be undertaken to improve understanding of the health of saltmarsh and the pressures on it in order to inform better management practices. This will be led by NatureScot in 2026/27.

5. Identifying sites for habitat restoration and creation. Areas which may be suitable for saltmarsh restoration/creation through activities such as managed realignment or regulated tidal exchange, will be identified as part of broader work to identify potential accommodation space for the adaptation of coastal habitats in response to coastal change. This will incorporate recent academic review of how saltmarshes may respond to accelerating sea-level rise. NatureScot will undertake initial work in 2025/26 and will be supported by the Scottish Government. Outputs from the initial work will then be used to support more comprehensive opportunity mapping for saltmarsh restoration, which may include an assessment of overlap with existing infrastructure, pressures, and activities that might hinder restoration. The outputs can then be used to help prioritise funding decisions for saltmarsh restoration work.

Seagrass

6. Baseline survey of carbon storage in new seagrass projects. Guidance and procedures to baseline survey carbon capture in seagrass restoration projects and donor sites will be produced and trialled on the projects supported by over £2 million investment by SSEN Distribution via SMEEF over the next 4 years. This work will help to standardise monitoring of carbon storage in seagrass projects and will enhance understanding of the contribution seagrass can make to climate change mitigation. It will be led by the Scottish Government, starting in 2025/26. Further, following initial findings, consideration will be given to undertaking a wider assessment of Scottish seagrass to improve our understanding of seagrass extent, condition, and blue carbon potential across Scotland.

7. Supporting habitat restoration and creation. Habitat suitability modelling and characterisation of marine regions for seagrass restoration potential will be progressed to assist and identify areas which may be suitable for seagrass restoration, including consideration of future climate change. This work will consider recent research on the causes of seagrass decline, including land and marine derived pollution, in Scottish waters and will inform the development of opportunity maps to help guide resources and restoration efforts to areas where success is most likely. This opportunity mapping is not intended to be prescriptive, but will act as tool to help guide and support where restoration might be possible. This work is being taken forward by NatureScot in 2025/26.

8. Understanding existing and proposed protections. Work is underway to assess the extent to which existing protected areas and current and proposed management measures for fishing activity may reduce pressures on blue carbon within known Scottish seagrass beds (as well as on seabed sediments) and to highlight the complexities involved. This is being led by NatureScot in 2025/26.

Seabed Sediments

9. Modelling and mapping the vulnerability of sedimentary carbon. Research to improve understanding of the vulnerabilities of sedimentary carbon to disturbance from bottom trawling is underway. Having started this work in 2024, the Scottish Government Marine Directorate is working with partners to support three projects focused on: (i) quantifying the impact of natural and human-based disturbance; (ii) mapping and quantifying seabed organic carbon density, reactivity, and age; and (iii) mapping and quantifying seabed disturbance from human activities. These projects are due to report preliminary findings in 2025.

10. On-site research to assess pressures on sedimentary carbon. Building on the findings from the research projects of Action 9, the Scottish Government will lead a project later in 2025/6 to conduct on-site sampling to further enhance understanding of sedimentary carbon vulnerability and the impact of bottom disturbance in blue carbon hotspots. This project will provide new information to help assess how pressures on the most vulnerable seabed carbon stores can be managed.

11. Scaling up findings to all Scottish seabed sedimentary carbon. Methods to scale up the findings from Actions 9 and 10, along with the results of currently published studies, across Scottish seas will be explored. A national-scale assessment of the potential impacts on sedimentary carbon from seabed disturbance will be attempted. This work will be led by the Scottish Government and will take place in 2026/27 and 2027/28.

12. Understanding existing and proposed protections. Work is underway to assess the extent to which existing and proposed management measures for fishing activity are reducing pressures on blue carbon within seabed sediments (as well as on seagrass beds) and to highlight the complexities involved. This work is being led by NatureScot in 2025/26.

Kelp and other seaweeds

13. Improving access to evidence based-information. Work will be undertaken to ensure that public nature and restoration funders and other relevant decision-makers have access to robust and up to date evidence on the potential natural carbon storage contributions of kelp and other seaweeds, including from lifecycle assessments. This is to ensure that funds are appropriately targeted towards investments that can make a meaningful contribution to climate change mitigation. This work will be undertaken by the Scottish Government in 2025/26.

14. Review latest scientific evidence. Recognising that the evidence base on carbon storage in relation to both wild and farmed kelp and other seaweeds is rapidly developing, a systematic literature review to take stock of the latest evidence will be supported in order to inform future policy. This will be led by the Scottish Government in 2027/28.

Next Steps

15. Monitoring and reporting. The delivery of actions in this plan will be overseen by the SBCF. By the end of 2028, the Scottish Government will review the implementation of actions, which will include consideration of the state of blue carbon evidence and existing policy approaches to inform the next steps.

16. Coordinating wider efforts. The Scottish Government will continue to provide financial support to UKBCEP and to work collaboratively with partners domestically and internationally to advance the commitment to protecting and restoring blue carbon habitats as a nature-based solution to tackle climate change and nature loss.