Solent Seascape Project

The Solent Seascape Project is an ambitious 5 year, multi partner project which will restore seagrass meadows, salt marsh, seabird nesting sites and oyster reefs across the Solent seascape.

The Solent is one of the most heavily used waterways in the UK. With a population of over 1.5 million, 79,000 shipping movements per year and a quarter of all the coastal marina berths in England, it is under increasing pressure from coastal squeeze, poor water quality, unsustainable fishing, recreational disturbance, and sea level rise. Sadly, this has resulted in the Solent’s internationally important marine and coastal habitats becoming diminished, degraded, and fragmented.

The Solent Seascape Project will be the first of its kind in the UK to initiate seascape scale recovery. Our long-term vision is to protect and restore at least 30 per cent of the Solent’s seascape, tipping the balance from a degraded state to a naturally expanding, connected and productive ecosystem. By restoring and connecting the Solent’s seascape, we will provide nature-based solutions to many of the issues currently affecting it and the people who depend on it, as well as helping to fight the impacts of climate change.

The £25,000 raised by London to Monaco riders for the Solent Seascape Project will be used to create educational outreach materials, project signage and infographics to help us achieve an important project outcome – engaging local communities with the sea.  By inspiring local people to become involved in our work we hope to better protect and manage Solent marine life.