Have a say in the UK's sea conservation plan

Sunset Cup Coral on the south west coast shows the diversity of sea life to protect around UK waters. (Picture Sally Sharrock)

Do you care about the future of the seas you sail on? Do you want to have a say in restrictions on anchoring, speed limits and 'no-take' zones where fishing is banned?

This year gives sailors a unique opportunity to have their say in plans to create new marine conservation zones (MCZs) around the UK coastline. The MCZs will protect nationally important marine wildlife, habitats, geology, geomorphology and have a range of protection levels that reflect the level to which a particular habitat or wider ecosystem needs to be safeguarded.

Four regional projects have been set up which give sailors and boaters until Autumn 2010 to come forward and share information and observations about the areas of sea they use.

The information gathering exercise will feed into recommendations to government in June 2011.

The four projects are:

Balanced Seas
Finding Sanctuary
Net Gain
Irish Sea Conservation Zones.

Between them they cover the inshore waters of England and the offshore waters of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Beth Henshall of Finding Sanctuary in the south west says: “2010 is a critical year – this isn’t an opportunity that is likely to occur again in the near future and the decisions that are made could have an impact on a whole range of waterborne activities. The message has to be – make your voice heard now before it is too late.”

Beth has already conducted over 150 interviews with sailing and boating clubs and individual boaters: "By the end of our research work we aim to have a definitive map showing how our seas are currently used. Accurate information about where sailors and boaters go is essential, as this is the information that representatives on the stakeholder groups will use. If they don’t know which areas are important to you, it will be more difficult to avoid them when planning MCZs."

No MCZs have yet been proposed, with the exception of Lundy Island which had its protected east coast changed from Marine Nature Reserve to Marine Conservation Zone in January 2010.

Plymouth sailor Adrian Bishop takes part in the Round the Island race

Participate by finding your sailing area below, look at the website, send an email or telephone

Balanced Seas (South-east)
Email: balancedseas@kent.ac.uk
Tel: 01227 827 839