By Gareth Cunningham, Marine Policy Officer, Wales
Last Wednesday (25th July) I and other RSPB Cymru staff accompanied the Environment Minister John Griffiths to RSPB Ramsey Island, and on a boat trip around RSPB Grassholm Island. The trip was organised to help raise awareness of marine issues in Wales, and to highlight the need for seabird colonies to have protected areas at sea, where they feed or rest on the sea’s surface.
We presented the Minister with an image of a Manx shearwater made up of the 3000 signatures of those who signed our pledge for better protection of seabirds at sea (shown above). Wales is a critical location for breeding seabirds like the Manx shearwater, with almost 45% of the global population of this species nesting on just five Welsh islands. While RSPB Cymru’s Grassholm Island, supports almost 10% of the world’s population of gannets.
Whilst there are large declines in seabirds across the rest of the UK, we are lucky that in Wales as yet we are not seeing the same level of declines, and most seabird species are currently either stable or increasing. As a result healthy Welsh seabird colonies are becoming increasingly important at a UK and EU level.
However, one Welsh seabird which isn’t faring so well is the kittiwake; last year they had their worst year on record. As a seabird that only feeds close to the surface of the sea, kittiwakes have a much more limited food supply than seabirds that can dive deeper to access alternative sources of prey, and as a result, kittiwakes are often the first to indicate bigger problems below the waters.
Yet despite the importance of Welsh seabirds and the protection of the breeding sites on land, we still lack full protection for seabirds at sea – where the birds actively feed and spend most of their lives.We are calling on the Welsh Government to not only designate additional areas at sea for seabirds and other marine wildlife, but to ensure effective management of the existing sites around Welsh coasts. Better management, resourcing and where necessary, enforcement of activities in the marine environment is needed for the entire network of Marine Protected Areas whether existing or new.
For more information about the RSPB Cymru marine campaign visit www.rspb.org.uk/supporting/campaigns/sealife/, and to see images from the boat trip, courtesy of our volunteer Anthony Walton visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/ponty_cyclops/7660725804/in/set-72157630756912406
Picture by Anthony Walton: Left-Right John Griffiths, Environment Minister and Gareth Cunningham RSPB Cymru Marine Policy Officer handing over the Manx shearwater image made from 3000 signatures July 2012