The Wildlife Trust's North Sea Wildlife Project

The Wildlife Trusts welcome protection for North Sea wildlife

The Wildlife Trusts welcome news of the launch of Net Gain, the North Sea Marine Conservation Zone Project (MCZ).  It is one of four regional MCZ projects which should help establish the protection our marine life desperately needs.

The Wildlife Trusts act as key advocates for marine wildlife and look forward to taking up their place on the project’s stakeholder group, ensuring North Sea wildlife receives the protection it needs.

An ambitious project, Net Gain has been set up with the aim of identifying Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in the English North Sea that will contribute to a network of marine protected areas that will conserve wildlife and enable the marine ecosystems to recover from past impacts. The Net Gain project will work to establish an open dialogue with as many sea users and interested groups as possible in order to achieve its aim.

The Wildlife Trusts aim to work within and alongside the Net Gain project, inputting key information and expertise to identify MCZs within the North Sea.  Through the establishment of MCZs, The Wildlife Trusts hope their vision of Living Seas around the UK can become a reality.  Living Seas are seas in which wildlife thrives, from the depths of the ocean to the coastal shallows.

Kirsten Smith, The Wildlife Trusts’ North Sea marine advocacy officer, comments:
“The North Sea was once teeming with marine life. But species that were formerly common, such as bluefin tuna and common skate, are now rarities.  Over the years the North Sea has been subjected to increasingly unsustainable pressures and as a result its wildlife and vital habitats have suffered. Research now suggests that almost 99% of the fish biomass once found within the North Sea has, over the decades, been lost.”

To ensure our North Sea wildlife receives the protection it urgently needs, 12 Wildlife Trusts (Northumberland, Durham, Tees Valley, Yorkshire, Sheffield, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Nottingham, Leicestershire and Rutland, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough (BCNP), Norfolk, Suffolk), have embarked on a joint project with the aim to make the concept of Living Seas a reality.  This project promotes protection of the North Sea's weird and wonderful marine wildlife, from microscopic plankton to gigantic whales.  It will help the Net Gain project to create the North Sea MPA network.

Kirsten added:  “We are facing exciting times and are ready for a challenge. Help us to help marine wildlife - and bring back our Living Seas. Visit www.northseawildlife.org.uk and speak out for our silent world.”