Call for more marine zones

Dozens more protected areas are needed in England’s seas to guarantee the future of nature beneath the waves, conservationists have urged.

A new report from the Wildlife Trusts calls for 48 more marine conservation zones – protected areas in the seas where activities such as damaging fishing are restricted – in the waters around the English coast.

They would add to the 50 marine conservation zones already designated in two tranches by the government to create a network of protected areas to preserve important wildlife, fisheries and habitats.

The report has been published ahead of plans for a third and final tranche of marine conservation zones, which the government

“Effective network of protected areas”

will consult on in 2017 and designate in 2018.

The Wildlife Trusts is calling on the government to raise its ambition for the final selection to create a “really comprehensive network” of protected areas for wildlife including seahorses, white beaked dolphins, starfish and seabirds.

They would also support commercially important species such as plaice, lemon sole and lobsters, the conservation groups argue.

Joan Edwards, of the Wildlife Trusts, said: “This is an unprecedented opportunity to create an effective network of protected areas at sea.

“Designating these 48 wild havens as marine conservation zones would go some way to guaranteeing a future for the extraordinarily diverse natural landscapes that exist beneath the waves off our coast.”