Living Seas

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Protect local wildlife

© Paul Naylor

Living Seas: what picture does this conjure up for you? A rocky reef bursting with brightly-coloured fish, corals and sponges? A boat trip in the company of leaping dolphins and playful seals? Fishermen hauling nets brimming with big, tasty fish? This is Living Seas and more!

*Latest Update* Make or break time for UK marine life: following Defra's announcement to consult on all 127 recommended Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in English waters, NWT Chief Executive Mike Pratt delivers his response. Read more

To explore the national Living Seas campaign further, check out The North Sea Wildlife Project and also The Wildlife Trusts' vision for marine conservation.

Campaigning for healthy seas

At the national level, a key aim of our marine work is to push the UK Government to improve the way in which our seas are managed and protected. Our seas provide us with key resources such as food, oxygen, materials for construction, energy and a place for recreation. But we have taken too much with little regard for the future. We believe that our seas will only have a healthy future if our many demands on them are managed in an integrated and sustainable way.

Please donate to our campaign today, and also sign the online Petition Fish to add your voice, and help put pressure on the UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments to create Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) - sanctuaries for our sea life.

The Wildlife Trusts are calling on the Government to deliver Marine Protected Areas that are:

- in the right place, where nature conservation is required
- supporting recovery from past decline, not just maintenance of their current, sometimes damaged condition
- well managed, with adequate regulation and controls.
 

Advising Government and other decision makers

Attending meetings, responding to consultations and offering advice is a major part of our 'behind the scenes' work. The Wildlife Trusts’ Marine Bill Campaign played a pivotal role in convincing the UK government to pass new laws in 2009-10 to protect the marine environment.

The 12 Wildlife Trusts spanning the East coast, from Northumberland down to Suffolk, are working right now with relevant interest groups to decide which places should become Marine protected Areas (MPAs) in the North Sea. These are places where human activities are managed and are a proven way of allowing nature to regenerate.

Raising awareness and enabling participation

We believe that everyone would value our seas more dearly if they knew more about our fantastic marine wildlife and the threats to its survival. We undertake and support a wide variety of projects that seek to improve knowledge of the marine environment and how best to protect it.

  • We are undertaking seaweed surveys during National Marine Week (July 31st  - August 14th) with Seasearch and Dove Marine Laboratory.
  • We support River Cottage chef, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in his Fishfight campaign to reform the Common Fisheries Policy.
  • Newcastle University’s Dove Marine Laboratory’s Big Sea Survey is recruiting volunteers to collect information on species living in our coastal marine environment.
  • The Marine Conservation Society has produced the Pocket Good Fish Guide to help us safeguard the future of our fisheries and other marine wildlife by choosing to eat fish from sustainable sources.

Join our Marine & Coastal Appeal

Another way to help us is to join our appeal to raise £30,000. We need a marine conservation specialist to liaise on MPAs and to educate local communities and businesses on the true value of the North Sea. We have some wonderful nature reserves along the coast, which are internationally important for migrating and overwintering birds.
We would like to continue to make improvements, such as upgrading boardwalks, providing more informative signage and way markers to make reserves more accessible and more enjoyable for all, whilst protecting the valuable species making their homes on the reserves.
We would also like to work in partnership with local interest groups to draft a local marine plan, up to the 6 mile limit, to ensure a co-ordinated approach to coast and marine conservation. All this, and more, can be achieved with your help.

To give you an idea of how this money might be spent:

  • £20 pays for specialist equipment used for counting organisms within a defined area
  • £350 pays for a group of people to clean up a beach for a day
  • £1000 pays for 5 school events
  • £2500 pays for a marine conservationist and associated costs for one month, to work with fishermen, local communities and other sea users, promoting sustainable use and providing advice on the MPAs.

Report your sightings

We have had some unusual creatures spotted recently:

  • A rare bearded seal was reported at Beadnell beach in May 2011
  • A John Dory was sighted in May 2011 at Cresswell Shore, only the second recording in Northumberland since records began

If you have spotted anything interesting please let us know and record it with ERIC.

Photos: Polly Whyte/earthinfocus, George Ledger, Lynne Newton