The Wildlife Trust's North Sea Wildlife Project

The Wildlife Trust welcome the North Sea MCZ project

The Wildlife Trusts welcome the North Sea Marine Conservation Zone Project

The Wildlife Trusts last week welcomed the start of an exciting and new process to designate Marine Protected Areas within the North Sea.
Over the past week, The North Sea Wildlife Trust’s Marine Advocacy Officer and other Wildlife Trust staff have been attending a roadshow up and down the North Sea coastline aimed at introducing Net Gain, the North Sea Marine Conservation Project to conservationists and sea users and to give people the opportunity to ask questions and voice concern and interest over the projects process.
These initial meetings organised and lead by Net Gain have provided conservationists and users of the sea with key details as to how and when Marine Conservation Zones will be identified. This process will help us all to secure the long-term health of the North Sea and the marine life within it.

Fishermen, government agencies, conservationists, recreational sea users and those from the commercial sector as well as many more are all being encouraged to get involved in the process of identify North Sea Marine Conservation Zones, in order to ensure their long term success. In the coming months and up to June 2011 sites will be identified by these stakeholders with an interest in the sea and its marine life. The Wildlife Trust are committed to being fully involved in the entire process, championing species and habitats that are in most need of protection and ensuring the network that is established is ecologically coherent allowing our marine wildlife to adapt and move as our climate changes.
 
Joan Edwards, The WildlifeTrusts’ head of Living Seas, said:

“This is an important moment. The next few years could be the most crucial period in history for the protection and management of UK seas. Our seas and sea life have a remarkable capacity to recover if given the chance. The Wildlife Trusts are looking forward to working with the conservation agencies to secure designation of new sites and ensure the necessary protective measures are put in place. They will all play their part in creating carefully designed and well managed networks of protected areas which will boost the health of the marine environment as a whole.”