VOLUNTEERS from East Lothian are diving in to help an environmental project at Belhaven Bay as part of Restoration Forth, a major marine plan designed to restore seagrass meadows and European flat oysters in the Firth of Forth.

Last spring, as part of a trial, volunteers planted 25,000 eelgrass seeds at Belhaven Bay, as well as Pettycur Bay in Fife and Dalmeny’s Drum Sands.

A further 135,000 common eelgrass seeds were added last month by volunteers trained by a team of experts.

Esther Thomsen, from Project Seagrass, said: “Seagrass meadows can contribute to increase biodiversity, help tackle climate change, and improve water quality.

“The passion and collective enthusiasm of communities to dive in to help makes this project so special.

“There’s nothing like experiencing a seagrass meadow first hand to foster the understanding of this important habitat and to champion their future protection.

“Together, we’re monitoring our successes and failures and learning a lot from our trials, which will ultimately inform seagrass restoration science.”