RSPB disappointed by marine wildlife proposals for Irish Sea

The RSPB has responded to proposals unveiled last week (Thursday 13 December) for the protection of Englands coasts and seas.

Clare Reed, Marine Conservation Officer for North West England said:

The announcement by environment minister Richard Benyon is hugely disappointing. These proposals risk selling short the huge numbers of people who have shown their support for the creation of a network of marine protected areas around our shores.

A process intended to protect our seas through the establishment of a coherent network of marine conservation zones has drifted dramatically off course when measured against the scale and urgency of the threat they face. Less than a third of the sites proposed in the Irish Sea have been put forward for designation in 2013, and there appears to be no clear commitment to any further rounds of designation.

"Furthermore, the areas that have been put forward for designation will not deliver the protection we had hoped for. We are particularly disappointed that black guillemot has been removed as a feature of the Cumbria Coast recommended Marine Conservation Zone. St Bees Head, on the West Coast of Cumbria, is home to 10,000 of breeding seabirds, including the entire English breeding population of black guillemot.     

St Bees cliffs

The coalition Government s commitment to achieve an ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas now looks undeliverable. The RSPB will now be examining the consultation in detail, including the lamentable attention given to the protection of seabirds and other  mobile species .    

  

The Defra press release announcing the new Marine Conservation Zones can be found here - http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2012/12/13/marine-conservations-zones/

Details of the  recommended marine zones including Sefton Coast/Hilbre island/Cumbria Coast.
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http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/file/1746003