The Kent Wildlife Trust needs your help to protect marine wildlife

Join the campaign to complete the network of protected underwater areas to safeguard, connect and protect our marine wildlife.

Until Friday 20th July 2018 Defra are consulting on a proposed third batch of Marine Conservation Zone designations. The Kent local sites and their marine wildlife will need your support if they are to become part of the all-important national network.

The Kent Wildlife Trust welcome this consultation and are delighted that Defra proposes to designate and protect four more sites around Kent: Goodwin Sands, Foreland, Swanscombe, and Kentish Knock East.

However, they are gravely concerned that further sites which were recommended in 2011 are not included in the consultation: Hythe Bay and the wider area of Thames Estuary around the proposed small site at Swanscombe. The significance of these sites is not simply local: they form an important part of the national network of 127 recommended MCZs around England. They will therefore continue to work with Government to press for a full network of protected areas.

Kent Wildlife Trust is calling on the public to back the 41 potential Marine Conservation Zones in the consultation.

How can I support the campaign?

Please add your support in one of the following ways:

• Sign the online petition
• Sign the campaign postcard – arriving in members’ next Wild Kent magazine, and available at our stand at the County Show and other events in June and July
• Send your views to Defra: [email protected] or fill in the online consultation response: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/marine/consultation-on-the-third-tranche-of…. Guidance and information on Kent sites is available here.

Consultation closes on Friday 20th July 2018 at 11.45pm.

Jellyfish found in Margate

Our seas are home to an astonishing array of wildlife, but sadly it is under threat from a range of pressures like overfishing, pollution and offshore developments. A well-connected network of protected areas is needed to provide sanctuary.

To date the Government has formally designated only six of the 11 recommended Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) around Kent. The five other recommended sites remain under threat of continued degradation. This consultation provides the chance to protect four of them. In total, 127 sites around the whole country were recommended for protection by stakeholders in 2011. Just 50 of these have been designated so far, leaving the national network that was promised by Government a long way from complete.

Why protect marine areas?

All our lives are dependent on the bounty of the seas, from the food we eat to the air we breathe and the climate we inhabit. The seas around Kent are home to a wonderful diversity of life, from sponges to seahorses, from starfish to seals. This wildlife should be safe, but sadly it is under increasing threat from over-exploitation and damage. Our seas are in desperate need of protection.

Protected areas at sea, including the new Marine Conservation Zones, form one of the most crucial tools for conserving marine wildlife, providing it with much-needed sanctuary.

Eleven key marine wildlife sites in our local Kent seas were identified as recommended Marine Conservation Zones, but their significance is not simply local: they form an important part of the national network of marine protected areas around England.

To find out more please see the Kent Wildlife Trust’s website: https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/campaigns/marine-conservation-zones

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