Investing for long-term coastal regeneration

31 August 2026

A joint blog with PAF volunteer Gina Lovett.

Several reports have come out this year on the state of nature markets, including for the marine realm. For example work undertaken by Project Seagrass, Climate Impact Partners and Deloitte UK^[i] has shown interest from large companies with immediate supply chain or operational dependencies such as ports, food production, and offshore energy firms – looking to strengthen the natural resources on which they depend, or to compensate for their environmental impacts by restoring marine life. But there is a piece missing in this approach. 

Right now, private investment frameworks focus mainly on single-species projects (e.g. oysters or seagrass) tied to short-term corporate timelines. While seascape-scale initiatives like the Solent Seascape Project led by the Blue Marine Foundation demonstrate that multi-species and habitat conservation is possible, they remain the exception.  Yet, if we are to really meet the goal of restoring and protecting our marine environment as set out in the 30 x 30 vision, marine protected areas (MPAs), which are designed to protect the full range of marine species, habitats and ecosystems, need permanent, ongoing stewardship. The UK’s MPA network covers almost half (47%) of our inshore waters and represents all key native species and habitats, from oysters and seagrass to maerl beds, flame shell reefs, iconic seabirds, sharks and whales to kelp forests and deep water corals. Managed effectively, these coastal areas can support diverse healthy functioning marine ecosystems, supporting climate resilience^[ii], food and materials provision and other benefits. However, our MPAs currently lack sustained management and resources^[iii].  

 

If private capital simply buys into projects that are limited in species, commitment and time, then we are missing a real opportunity to regenerate local economies.  

Rather than external corporate money operating in a vacuum, we need to ensure that coastal communities are embedded into these financial arrangements from the outset and have a central role in conservation work, wherever possible. Many local communities are already managing, monitoring and restoring protected areas on a voluntary basis, all the way from Greener Orkney and Moray Ocean Community in the far north of Scotland to the Sussex Kelp project and Studland Bay Marine Partnership on the south coast of England. They provide essential field and monitoring activities alongside outreach and educational programmes and could be fairly compensated for such stewardship.  

So, how do we join the dots? 

In a recent report I wrote for Natural England, I explored the motivations of investors in providing financing for marine protected areas^[iv]. I believe there is a systemic opportunity to connect local government pension schemes with ocean recovery.  Already, over 40 local authorities in the UK have adopted a ‘motion for the ocean’, a formal pledge by councils to protect and prioritise marine health.  

Imagine this: a local authority adopts a Motion for the Ocean, formally pledging to protect regional marine environments by “embedding ocean recovery in all strategic decisions, plans, budgets, procurement and approaches to decisions by the Council”^[v]. Their local government pension fund is invited to invest capital into scalable “community coastal infrastructure” assets to secure stable, long-term jobs for coastal communities and stable, long-term returns for public sector workers. This institutional funding flows into multi-year coastal protection pipelines, including allowing community groups to receive consistent financial backing to maintain, monitor and restore a mosaic of habitats across a portfolio of protected areas. 

There’s already some basis for this approach. In my report I outline how the West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) backed nature asset manager Rebalance Earth to deploy capital into Oyster Heaven to recover and rebuild North Sea oyster reefs. The work so far, secured by commercial offtake agreements with Nestle Purina for marine ecosystem services, shows how public pensions can support the recovery of coastlines while meeting fiduciary duties.

 

There is some important work for Government to do to support this. The UK Government needs to consider how public funding, including through Crown Estate revenues, the Marine Recovery Fund and other prospective funds such as from Marine Net Gain, can be deployed fairly and strategically both to support coastal communities already at the forefront of biodiversity loss, pollution, rising seas and coastal erosion and to de-risk investment and build robust foundations for a well-functioning market. This should include providing legal clarity on how coastal community opportunities and benefits are built into investment schemes and on how seabed rights for nature recovery outcomes sit alongside existing seabed rights and leasing frameworks.   

Local councils also play a key role. Alongside convening local communities and the statutory nature conservation bodies they can engage their local government pension scheme in supporting coastal protection and recovery plans. 

Rather than thinking about coastal restoration as a series of transient species-specific corporate pilots, with a more joined up public and private approach we could leverage our public pension systems and ensure that investment prioritises wider marine ecosystem recovery while putting wealth back into the heart of our coastal communities. 

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[i] Future of Seagrass – Unlocking investment by 2028. Climate Impact Partners, Project Seagrass, and the National Oceanography Centre, with the pro bono support of Deloitte UK, July 2026.
[ii] Briefing on MPAs and Climate Change. The Protected Areas Foundation, April 2026.
[iii] Community 30×30 Snapshot, Scotland. The Protected areas Foundation, January 2026.
[iv] Financing for Marine Protected Areas – the Investor Perspective. The Protected Areas Foundation, July 2026.
[v] Motion for the Ocean