A new fund has been launched to help safeguard the future of Scotland’s seabirds.

The £1.6m investment, funded by voluntary donations from a group of offshore renewable energy developers, aims to fund practical projects to protect seabirds from threats they face, both at sea and on land.

The Seabird Resilience Fund come sunder the remit of the Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF) which is hosted by NatureScot.

SMEEF said under pressure from a range of factors including climate change, invasive species and food availability, seabird numbers have fallen dramatically between 1986 and 2023. The number of birds on Scotland’s coastal breeding grounds is now nearly half of what it was in 1986.

However, short term trends show increased populations of black-legged kittiwake, European shag and common guillemot. With renewable energy helping Scotland work towards net zero targets, the new fund aims to support more direct action to help recover healthy seabird populations.

Twenty-four species have their regular breeding grounds in Scotland, as do 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.

Cathy Tilbrook, NatureScot Head of Sustainable Coasts and Seas said: “The Seabird Resilience Fund will support action to address some of the many threats our seabird populations are facing. Funding on this scale comes at a crucial time. The challenge is significant but there are small signs of hope, with some populations stabilizing. We want to support that trend and deliver innovative projects to help seabirds to recover and thrive.”

£1.6 million fund aims to help safeguard the future of Scotland’s seabirds

16 May 2025