MARINE CONSERVATION ZONE PROJECTInformation for Wildlife WatchersThe Marine Conservation Zone Project is an important opportunity to protect and recover our marine wildlife. Using an unprecedented level of public participation and the best science available, the Project will work with sea users and interest groups to plan Marine Conservation Zones for a healthy, sustainable marine environment.
The Marine Conservation Zone ProjectThe Marine Conservation Zone Project is a partnership project working with people who use the sea for their livelihood or leisure to identify Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs). MCZs aim to conserve areas of the sea to protect the diversity of rare, threatened and representative habitats and species and help to ensure long-term sustainability of marine resources in our seas. The Project is being delivered through four regional MCZ projects covering the south-west (Finding Sanctuary), Irish Sea (Irish Sea Conservation Zones), North Sea (Net Gain) and south-east (Balanced Seas).
These regional MCZ projects are working with representatives from a wide cross-section of sea users and interest groups including wildlife enthusiasts, industry, divers and fishermen. These representatives sit on regional stakeholder groups and are responsible for identifying MCZs and recommending them to Natural England and The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). If these sites meet ecological requirements, Natural England and JNCC will recommend the MCZs to the government in 2011.
Our seas are rich in wildlife, and hidden beneath the waves are beautiful and varied undersea landscapes. However many of our nationally important habitats and species are threatened or in decline and it is vital that we take action now to help protect and recover our marine environment. The detailed knowledge and understanding of local sites that divers and wildlife watchers have will play an important role in developing ideas for MCZs, ensuring that they conserve the natural features for which they are designated.
Ecological requirements will be the first consideration in the selection of MCZs, however by engaging with your regional MCZ project, local divers and wildlife enthusiasts can help to plan sites in a way that doesn’t unnecessarily restrict people’s activities. We hope that by involving wildlife enthusiasts from the earliest planning stages we will build understanding and support for the MCZ recommendations put forward by the regional stakeholder groups.
Marine Conservation ZonesMarine Conservation Zones are a new type of Marine Protected Area (MPA) introduced through the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act. MCZs will protect nationally important marine wildlife, habitats, geology and geomorphology. Sites will be selected in English inshore and offshore waters around England, Wales and Northern Ireland and will protect the full range of marine wildlife. MCZs, together with other types of MPA, will make up an ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas by 2012. MCZs will have a range of protection levels that reflect the degree to which a particular habitat or wider ecosystem needs to be safeguarded.
Which Areas Will Be Protected?We don’t yet know which areas will be protected, or what degree of protection they will receive. The regional stakeholder groups have responsibility for developing recommendations on the location of MCZs and their conservation objectives. Sites will be chosen for their scientific merit and the location of habitats and species that need to be protected. In identifying sites, the regional stakeholder groups will attempt to minimise the impact to sea users, where there are choices to be made about locations.
The natural environment representatives that sit on the regional stakeholder groups will be representing your interests during negotiations. Each regional stakeholder group will make its recommendations to Government via Natural England and JNCC, in June 2011. Following a process of public consultation, sites will be designated in 2012.
How Can You Get Involved?Many wildlife enthusiasts have excellent knowledge of their local areas and the plants and animals that inhabit them. In order to ensure MCZs are placed in the best locations, the Project needs to draw on this wealth of knowledge. It also wants to know which sea areas are most important to you. Your representatives on the stakeholder groups need to have accurate information about where nationally important habitats and species occur in order to help plan MCZs carefully.
You can get in touch with your representative on the relevant regional stakeholder group or visit our Interactive Map (
http://www.mczmapping.org) where you can upload information about your marine activities, as well as the location of marine wildlife, notable habitats and geological features you have seen. Or you can view the layers of data to discover more about your region’s sea.
If you would like to find out more, contact your regional MCZ project who will can explain the Project in more detail, listen to your opinions, and put you in touch with your representative on the stakeholder group.
Contacts
Finding Sanctuary (south-west)
http://www.finding-sanctuary.org01392 878 327
Irish Sea Conservation Zones (Irish Sea)
http://www.irishseaconservation.org.uk01925 813 200
Balanced Seas (south-west)
http://www.balancedseas.org01227 827 839
balancedseas@kent.ac.ukNet Gain (north-east)
http://www.netgainmcz.orgTel: 01482 382 007
http://www.naturalengland.org.ukhttp://www.jncc.gov.ukThe Marine Conservation Zone Project is being led by Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee to identify and recommend Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) to Government
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Andrew Chick Website:
http://www.forktail.co.uk/
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