Report: Wilder Seas
A blueprint for restoring our marine environment and empowering our coastal communities with the Marine Conservation Society.
Our joint report with the Marine Conservation Society, published in June 2025, highlights the urgent need to protect and rewild our marine environment, which is under increasing pressure from overexploitation, pollution and climate change.
It outlines eight clear and practical recommendations to reverse the decline of our sea life, with and for coastal communities, illustrated with multiple real-life examples of marine rewilding projects across the UK’s coastal seas.
What’s the issue?
Marine ecosystems, once rich and abundant, are collapsing. This is threatening the resilience of coastal communities, the sustainability of important industries, and our ability to tackle the nature and climate emergencies. As the ocean’s capacity to provide these services diminishes, so too does our collective resilience.
The case for action could not be clearer. The UK seabed has the potential to sequester nearly three times more carbon annually than all the UK’s forests combined, yet it remains vulnerable to damaging exploitation. Meanwhile, the profound mental and physical health benefits offered by our seas highlight the need to reconnect our communities with them, above all because the loss of marine life is widening the gap between people and the environment on which we all depend.
What we’re calling for
The UK and devolved governments must urgently act to protect this most extraordinary national asset, to rewild our seas and to ensure that we have a thriving, resilient ocean for generations to come.
The recommendations in our report include streamlining marine licensing to support community-led restoration projects, banning harmful ‘forever chemicals’, protecting blue carbon ecosystems, and delivering a national Ocean Literacy Action Plan.
Download the Wilder Seas report
Download pdfOur eight recommendations in summary
- Scale up community-led marine recovery by streamlining licensing
- Unlock marine community projects through new funding opportunities
- Deliver genuine, whole-site protection of Marine Protected Areas across 30% of UK seas
- Recognise the role of seas in addressing the climate crisis by protecting blue
carbon ecosystems - Introduce a Marine Spatial Prioritisation Plan that prioritises nature recovery,
supported by a Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund - Tackle the scourge of chemical pollution in our ocean by banning the use
of ‘forever chemicals’ - Build workforce capacity as part of a sustainable blue economy
- Improve ocean literacy by delivering the Ocean Literacy Action Plan for England
Read our recommendations in full.
“This report shows that a future of wilder, richer UK seas and thriving coastal communities is possible, and we call on the UK Government to take action to make that future a reality.”
Rebecca Wrigley
Chief Executive at Rewilding Britain
Marine rewilding: what it is and why it matters
Marine rewilding encourages a balance between people and the rest of nature, so that we can thrive together. It can support and create new opportunities in coastal economies, allow living systems to provide the ecological functions on which we all depend, and help people reconnect with the marine environment.
Yet in the UK, marine recovery projects are far less common than terrestrial rewilding projects. With over 80% of the British public supporting rewilding, removing barriers to community action is crucial to support the achievement of the Government’s nature targets.
“We need urgent and systemic action to give nature the space and support to recover. Our seas are our greatest asset in tackling climate change and supporting life on earth. We need to see the UK Government ratify the High Seas Treaty and lead the international community in protecting and restoring the ocean.”
Sandy Luk
Chief Executive at the Marine Conservation Society
GET IN TOUCH
For more information on the content of the report or to arrange a meeting, please contact jacques.villemot@rewildingbritain.org.uk or aleksandra.chernysheva@mcsuk.org.
Support our marine rewilding work
Whether it’s grassroots action in coastal Scotland or strategic change in Westminster, restoring our seas is possible — and it’s happening now.
With your support, we can rewild more of Britain’s coasts and ocean floors, empower communities, and inspire global change.
