Plans to extend sea life protection
Nearly 10,000 square kilometres (4,000 square miles) of sea around Britain could get special status to extend protection for marine life under new proposals unveiled today.
Seven areas have been earmarked to become, depending on public consultation, the UK’s first offshore Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and include:
North Norfolk Sandbanks and Saturn Reef – off the north-east coast of Norfolk.
The seven chosen areas would extend protection for important sea life and habitats such as sandbanks and cold water corals beyond the UK’s 12-mile territorial waters limit.
Plans to consider the sites for SAC status were published today by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), statutory nature conservation advisers to government. Following consultation the JNCC will consider whether to recommend to government that the sites are submitted to the European Commission for approval.
Jonathan Shaw, Marine, Landscape and Rural Affairs Minister, said:
“The UK has one of the richest marine environments in the world. We want to bring conservation standards at sea up to the level of those that we have on land, to give greater protection to sea life.
“I want to see a network of marine protected areas around the UK by 2012, and these seven new proposed offshore areas would be a big part of that.”
The Government is committed to developing a strong network of marine protected areas by 2012 to conserve the richness of our marine wildlife. The network will incorporate the Marine Conservation Zones being proposed in the Marine Bill, SACs and Special Protection Areas.
To see the proposals go to www.jncc.gov.uk/marineconsult
Deadline for responses is 13 March 2008.
