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Glenmorangie
hosts landmark European conference on
Reef Restoration to develop a
‘blueprint’ for native oyster reef
restoration in Europe's seaas.
Following on from the successful Glenmorangie
backed project to return to restore
oyster reefs n the Dornoch Firth, near
Glenmorangie’s Highland home they
highland whisky maker is now getting
behind a project which could eventually
see millions of native oysters (Ostrea
edulis) returned to the seas around
Sweden, France, Germany, England, Wales,
Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy
and Croatia, where they were wiped out
by overfishing as much as a century ago.
The second Native Oyster Restoration
Alliance (NORA) conference was held in
Edinburgh this week where the
Glenmorangie Company, together with its
partners including Scottish Natural
Heritage hosted a meeting where marine
scientists, conservationists,
administrators and oyster producers from
across Europe came together to develop a
‘blueprint’ for native oyster reef
restoration – involving at least 15
European countries.
Glenmorangie
is dedicated to protecting and improving
the beautiful Highland surroundings in
which it has been rooted for 175 years.
And, in a European first, the whisky
company and its partners, Heriot-Watt
University and the Marine Conservation
Society, have now begun restoring
extinct native oyster reefs to the
protected sea by its Distillery, through
the Dornoch Environmental Enhancement
Project (DEEP).
Furthermore, thanks to the development
of a sustainable native oyster supply
chain in Scotland, supported by DEEP,
the industry could be poised to take
part in the supply of the native oysters
needed for Europe’s planned restoration
projects – and more in the future.
Forged in 2014, DEEP’s meticulous,
research-led approach has already seen
20,000 oysters returned to the Dornoch
Firth. It aims to establish a
self-sustaining reef of four million
oysters by 2025. Established reefs would
improve water quality and biodiversity
through regaining reef-like three
dimensional structures on the seafloor
and act in tandem with Glenmorangie’s
anaerobic digestion plant, purifying the
by-products of distillation – an
environmental first for a Distillery.
Dr Bill Sanderson, DEEP’s Research
Director and Associate Professor of
Marine Biodiversity at Heriot-Watt, is
chairing the NORA conference at The
Royal Society Edinburgh. He said: “This
is a game-changing moment for marine
conservation. NORA’s pledge to bring
back oyster reefs across Europe, opens
the door to widespread restoration, with
untold benefits for our seas. DEEP’s
ground-breaking work in the Dornoch
Firth proves that it is possible to
return oysters to areas in which they
have become extinct.”
Glenmorangie President and CEO Tom
Moradpour said: “We are incredibly proud
to be pioneering DEEP’s vital
environmental work with our partners,
not only protecting but enhancing
Glenmorangie Distillery’s environment
for future generations.”
Professor Henning von Nordheim, head of
the marine conservation department in
Germany's Federal Conservation Agency
BfN: "When we founded NORA in 2017 in
Berlin, we gratefully realised the
overwhelming support and eagerness of so
many European partners to join this
fascinating vision. There is a real
chance to restore large areas of our
over exploited marine ecosystems with
native oysters, for the benefit of
marine biodiversity and sea water
purification all around Europe. In doing
so we can learn a lot from each other at
this gathering in Edinburgh.”
Scottish Government Minister for the
Natural Environment Mairi Gougeon said:
“The Dornoch Environmental Enhancement
Project (DEEP) is a fantastic Scottish
success story which will improve water
quality and biodiversity in the Dornoch
Firth.
“Glenmorangie, Heriot-Watt University
and the Marine Conservation Society can
all be incredibly proud of this
pioneering partnership and I look
forward to the reef, and the clear
benefits it will provide, being further
established in the coming years.”
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