News & Events
Marine reserve of the month: Lundy Island
May’s marine reserve is the ‘Lundy Marine Conservation Zone’, off the coast of North Devon. First established as a voluntary marine nature reserve in 1971, in 2010 Lundy Island received ‘Marine Conservation Zone’ status – the first area in the UK. Find out more about Lundy’s MCZ
read moreBasking sharks return
Posted by Chelsea Bradbury The world’s second largest fish is once again in the UK’s coastal waters and the basking shark season has officially begun, so grab your binoculars and head out to see these gentle giants. The first basking shark of the season was spotted off the Cornish coast, measuring a whopping 8m long – which is relatively small seeing as these sharks can grow to 12m! As the long-awaited sunshine of spring arrives, basking shark sightings are now rolling in. Lured...
read moreUK’s most exotic natural treasures threatened by ‘legal neglect’
The RSPB and the Foundation for International Environmental Law & Development (FIELD) have completed the first-ever analysis of environmental protection legislation and policy across all 14 UK Overseas Territories. The analysis revealed that there are important areas of good practice, but that many Overseas Territories still have significant gaps in their environmental governance which urgently need to be addressed. Good Practice: Gibraltar is the Overseas Territory that best demonstrates...
read moreMPs say Marine Conservation Zones are vital
Government is letting marine protection plans flounder The Marine Reserves Coalition welcomes the Marine Science Report, published yesterday (11 April) by the House of Commons Science & Technology Committee. The cross-Party group of MPs has said that the creation of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) is vital to protect biodiversity in UK waters and should not be stalled by government for fear of judicial review. The Marine Reserves Coalition has long been calling for the selection...
read moreOpportunity to protect English waters
The Marine Reserves Coalition has today responded to the Government’s consultation on proposals for the designation of Marine Conservation Zones in English waters. Read what we had to say here.
read moreThe year of the shark…
Chelsea Bradbury – Marine Reserves Coalition: 2013 has been dubbed the year of the shark. This follows an exciting and historic success for sharks and rays during the 40thanniversary year of CITES. At CoP16, currently taking place in Bangkok, votes from over 130 government representatives resulted in a two thirds majority in favour of adopting proposals to list oceanic white tips, porbeagles, hammerheads (great, smooth, scalloped) and both manta ray species onto Appendix II of CITES, and...
read moreA good day for sharks and rays…
Chelsea Bradbury – The Marine Reserves Coalition: A major wildlife convention is currently underway in Bangkok and sharks are a big talking point. On 3 March, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) kicked off its 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP16). This marks the 40th anniversary of CITES, but today will also be remembered as an exciting and momentous occasion for shark and ray species, as a record number were listed...
read moreMarine Conservation Zones – have your say!
Now is the time to have your say about marine protection around our coast. The UK Government’s public consultation on new Marine Conservation Zones in England’s waters is now open. Be sure to submit your response by 31 March, to have your views heard. The Marine Reserves Coalition will be responding to the Government Consultation, supporting the call for the entire proposed network of 127 Marine Conservation Zones, to be designated. Find out why...
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