Diver UK – August 2019

DIVER NEWS

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NVIRONMENTALISTS

welcomed the announcement

at the end of May of a near-

doubling in the number of Marine

Conservation Zones in England’s “Blue

Belt” – but warned against the danger

of creating mere “paper parks”.

The creation of 41 new MCZs

around English coasts and in UK

offshore waters around England,

Wales and Northern Ireland was

described as “a big step forward”

by Wildlife & Countryside Link,

England’s biggest coalition of wildlife

and environment charities.

WCL includes the Marine

Conservation Society (MCS), Whale &

Dolphin Conservation, Wildlife Trusts,

WWF UK and seven other bodies.

But the charities insisted that

without effective management and

well-resourced enforcement, marine

life would go on declining at the new

sites. Earlier in May, they pointed out,

the Environmental Audit Committee

had slammed the lack of protection

for these areas in its Sustainable Seas

report, expressing concern that the

Government was “doing little more

than putting lines on a map”.

The 41 new MCZs, an addition to

50 existing sites, were announced by

DEFRA (Department for Environment,

Food & Rural Affairs), which recently

had to admit its failure to achieve

healthy seas through the UK Marine

Strategy, managing to meet only four

of its 15 targets.

“The collective UK Governments’

admission that our oceans are in poor

health is a wake-up call,” said WCL.

“We must grasp this once-in-a-lifetime

opportunity to turn the tide on

biodiversity loss.”

Dr Jean-Luc Solandt of the MCS

welcomed the new zones. “The UK has

a growing network of more than 300

Marine Protected Areas, but the

Government must now invest in

proper management of these sites

and keep them free of all activities

that damage the seabed, so that our

spectacular marine wildlife can

recover from decades of destruction

and degradation,” he said.

MPAs are parts of the sea that are

partially or fully protected from

damaging or extractive activity, while

MCZs are a specific type of MPA

designed to help protect nationally

important marine wildlife and

habitats and to help ensure

sustainability of resources in

English waters.

The new MCZs include

Beachy Head East, Bexhill and

Hastings in Sussex, which the

MCS describes as “home to an

incredible diversity of fish,

including seahorses”.

Also designated are Orford

Inshore (Suffolk), Markham’s

Triangle (NE coast), Ribble Estuary

(Lancs), Kentish Knock East,

Bembridge (Isle of Wight), Purbeck

(Dorset), which includes the long-

campaigned-for Studland Bay

seahorse habitat, Dart Estuary (Devon)

and Helford Estuary by the Lizard

(Cornwall). Two sites off Northern

Ireland are also included: South Rigg

and Queenie Corner.

The new MCZs are intended to

protect marine life including worms,

starfish, sea firs, sea urchins, spiny

lobsters, molluscs, fan mussels,

tentacled lagoon worms, short-

snouted seahorse and native oysters,

says the MCS.

Protected habitats include sand,

tidal mud, rocky reefs and gravel.

Divers played a major part in

informing DEFRA’s decisions on the

new MCZs, by gathering evidence

through the Seasearch volunteer

dive programme.

“Our divers have spent hours and

hours diving England’s incredibly

diverse seabed habitats to record the

marine plants and animals that

inhabit our inshore seas,” said national

co-ordinator Dr Charlotte Bolton.

“Through this meticulous citizen

science we have been able to make

the case for the protection of many of

these new sites, and we look forward

to helping local authorities develop

robust management and monitoring

plans for these MCZs so that the

amazing marine life they protect

really can recover.”

The 11 conservation charities

issued a three-point challenge to the

Government, calling on it to ensure

that effective management is in place

by the end of 2019; to commit to

regular monitoring of all MPAs to

better understand trends and ensure

their protection, with enforcement

increased where necessary to prevent

harmful fishing practices; and to

provide ring-fenced monitoring and

enforcement funds from central

Government “rather than over-

stretched public bodies”.

Despite earlier commitments, the

Scottish Government has delayed

a public consultation for further

protected sites in its waters for four

years, says WCL, while Wales had yet

to announce any plans.

THE FOLLOWING WEEK DEFRAalso

launched a review into introducing

an elevated level of protection for

England’s marine life and habitats

• in the form of Highly Protected
  Marine Areas (HPMAs).
  Targeted HPMAs would
  complement the MCZ network and
  allow vulnerable marine wildlife to
  fully recover, free from all

damaging human activities, with

the aim of restoring areas to

a pristine state, said DEFRA.

Richard Benyon, a Conservative

MP and former fisheries minister,

would lead the review, seeking

to establish an evidence-based

process for selecting HPMAs that

balance the needs of conservation,

local communities and fisheries.

“There have been other reviews

of the potential for HPMAs so this

one must result in action,” said Dr

Peter Richardson, MCS

Head of Ocean Recovery.

“Highly protected

sites are known to be the

most effective tool for

marine wildlife recovery,

and new sites in our

waters would provide

significant benefits for

our threatened marine

species and habitats.”

Richardson said that

large offshore HPMAs to

protect habitat for commercial fish

stocks and endangered species

such as common skate, halibut and

angel shark should be the priority.

“Inshore HPMA sites should be

community-led and need extensive

discussion with those that use them

• for instance Lamlash Bay, on
  Arran, took 13 years of discussion
  before it was implemented – and
  consequently is a highly effective
  and successful HPMA, with
  recovering biodiversity and local
  ownership and support.”
  Dr Solandt described HPMAs
  as “an important element of a
  protection network as they allow
  the rewilding of our seabed” and
  “good for carbon sequestration
  through the recovery of shellfish
  beds and other habitats, helping
  us mitigate against the threat of
  climate catastrophe”.
  The MCS also welcomed Benyon’s
  appointment, describing him as
  “a champion for marine protection,
  including HPMAs in our Overseas
  Territories, for many years”.
  The review is due for completion
  by the end of 2019. The Government
  is also set to publish an international
  ocean strategy this year, with
  DEFRA saying that it would be
  joining calls for 30% of the world’s
  oceans to be protected by 2030.n

English Blue Belt expansion and

‘highly protected’ review welcomed

One of the new MCZs is

at Beachy Head East.

GRAHAM HOBSTER / PIXABAY

Lamlash Bay: ‘A highly effective and successful HPMA.’