Marine Conservation Zones

What are Marine Conservation Zones?

Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) are a new designation to help protect wildlife in the English sea. They are like nature reserves in the sea. These MCZs will not only protect the marine wildlife within them, but also work together to secure and enhance the wider marine environment and the living systems which it supports.  To do this the network will need to protect a full range of marine seabed habitats as well as marine wildlife hotspots. Currently less than 0.001% of the UK shores are fully protected from damaging activities. Wider protection of the seas is required to maintain healthy seas for the future. The Government originally gave a commitment to create MCZs around England by end 2012. Make sure this happens, show your suport for MCZS and sign a scale today

Why do we need MCZs?

• British coasts, and the south west in particular, have some of the best marine wildlife in Europe.  This includes squid, cuttlefish, corals, sea horses and a wonderful array of bizarre, colourful and increasingly rare life forms. They are also some of the most productive fishing grounds.
  
  

• The potential of Marine Conservation Zones is enormous. As well as protecting the most important and vulnerable areas, they will also cover the full range of seabed habitats and begin to reverse years of decline, benefiting wildlife and people.

• Contrary to what some have claimed, these Marine Conservation Zones will not stop all fishing and they will not stop people enjoying and gaining a living from the sea.  What they will do is protect the most important and vulnerable areas.  Exactly as we have done on land for decades. 
  
  

• While fishing is a heavily regulated industry, there is little protection for marine wildlife in any real sense.  Little is known about some of the habitats that are being destroyed by activities such as dredging.  Despite the progress that has undoubtedly been made in some parts of the fishing industry, pressure on our seas continues to grow.
  
  

• In 2009 the Marine and Coastal Access Act created a new type of protection for marine wildlife and habitats. 127 possible sites, known as Marine Conservation Zones, were identified for protection.   These cover around a quarter of our coastal waters, and would limit or exclude the most damaging activities.  In the south west the process of identifying Marine Conservation Zones has been locally led and involved fishing groups, recreational users and business interests, as well as conservationists.  The sites proposed are a sensible balance between all these interests.  They have not simply been imposed from Westminster or Brussels.
  
  

Sign a Petition Fish scale, show your support for MCZ's

Latest MCZ News

The Government began by being enthusiastic about designating Marine Conservation Zones with the target of a full network by the end of 2012. In November 2011 the minister announced a delay with only a small proportion of the proposed Marine Conservation Zones to be designated in the first tranche and no timetable for the rest.  The Wildlife Trusts believe that this delay is unnecessary and risks undermining the future recovery of our seas.

In December we put out a call to our members and supporters to help campaign for our marine wildlife.  This was in response to the government's surprising - and bitterly disappointing - decision to put the brakes on protecting some of our best and most important areas for marine wildlife.

Your response has been fantastic.  More than a thousand people in Devon have already written to government ministers to tell them how much you care about this issue and how important you feel it is for us to conserve our marine wildlife.  We know there are plenty of sympathetic voices in Westminster.  We need to give them as much support as we can. Show your support for MCZs and Sign a scale today

Devon Wildlife Trust and MCZs

Four regional projects were set up to bring local people together to decide where the new MCZs should go.  In the South West this work was carried out by the Finding Sanctuary project, which Devon Wildlife Trust was involved with along with other local stakeholders like fishermen, divers and recreational boat users. Nationally The Wildlife Trusts’ marine team helped with ongoing national guidance. The regional projects made their recommendations in September 2011.

A total of 127 MCZs have been identified as areas to be protected around England through the stakeholder process. To see a map of the selected areas visit the MCZ Project Interactive Map