All Nature: Sowing The Sea

Learning about harnessing seagrass, wild oysters and other natural species to protect coastal communities, with the Stronger Shores programme and Tees Rivers Trust. 

The impacts of climate change are wide-ranging, but here in the UK, where none of us lives more than 70 miles from the sea, bigger winter storms, heavy rain and increased wave power create serious coastal flooding risks for huge numbers of people. In the North East of England, an innovative partnership of organisations, led by South Tyneside Council, is working on a programme of work exploring natural solutions to reducing this flood risk. In this episode of the Carbon Copy Podcast, we meet Karen Daglish, Delivery Manager at the Stronger Shores programme, to learn more about this inspiring, collaborative initiative. We also meet Judy Power, Project Manager at Tees Rivers Trust, one of the partner organisations working with the programme, and learn about the incredible, painstaking work they’re doing to grow and protect seagrass and wild oysters in the Tees Estuary. 

Listen to learn about: 

• The long-term goals and ambition of the Stronger Shores programme. 

• The amazing potential of wild oysters to filter water and sequester carbon. 

• The reason that seagrass is such an important species – and why it is under threat. 

• How engagement activities across the North East are helping more people locally to appreciate and understand the natural species on their shores. 

Show Notes 

• More information about Stronger Shores: https://carboncopy.eco/initiatives/stronger-shores  

• More projects on Carbon Copy relating to protecting coastal environments: https://carboncopy.eco/initiatives?cst&search_term=coastal&filter-local_area  

• Learn more about taking action for seagrass: https://carboncopy.eco/community/restore-seagrass  

• Learn more about the Environment Agency’s coastal protection research: https://engageenvironmentagency.uk.engagementhq.com/innovation-programme  

• Read about Tees Rivers Trust: https://www.teesriverstrust.org/  

• Read about the Wild Oysters project: https://carboncopy.eco/initiatives/wild-oysters  

• Learn about the Tall Ships Festival: https://www.tallshipshartlepool2023.co.uk/  

• Listen to the Carbon Copy Podcast – Lines In The Sand, to learn more about the impacts of coastal erosion: https://carboncopy.eco/podcasts/lines-in-the-sand  

Karen Daglish, Delivery Manager at Stronger Shores.