Can you ask your MP to save the seabirds of the Cumbria Coast?

Guest blog by Calum Booth, RSPB North West Marine Conservation Officer.

As you stroll along the coastal path at RSPB St Bees Head in summer, you’ll be stopped in your tracks by breathtaking views of the spectacular seabird colony nesting on the cliff face, some 100 metres above the sea.

Nearly 10,000 seabirds nest on the land, and are protected here. But without equal protection at sea, those same birds are at risk from fishing nets and recreational boats.

Black guillemot pair showing typical courtship display (c) Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)

Guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and herring gulls make up the majority of the colony, with cormorants and fulmars also nesting here together with a small number of puffins and England’s only nesting black guillemots.

These stunning seabirds really do cater for all the senses – they look magnificent, they are incredibly noisy, and their scent is decidedly pungent!

In winter, however, the scene is very different here. As you gaze out over the vast expanse of the Irish Sea, towards the Isle of Man, the sights, sounds and scents of these seabirds will mostly have ceased. In late summer, following the breeding season, they head out onto the open water, where they spend the majority of the year. Out there they are at the mercy of the elements and the risks posed by human activity, so everyday is a battle to survive in this harsh environment.  

St Bees Head, part of the Cumbria Coast Marine Conservation Zone (c) Dave Blackledge

The Cumbria Coast is already a Marine Conservation Zone, which stretches all the way from Whitehaven, down to the mouth of the Ravenglass estuary. The site protects rare underwater habitats and fascinating creatures including the blue mussel and honeycomb worm reef.

At present the area that is protected around St Bees Head, as an MCZ, is around one km in size. As the only breeding site in England for black guillemot, maintaining a strong foothold for this species, along with all the other important seabirds, through effective protection, is essential. Here all that needs to change is for the existing zone to be extended to make sure that these birds are protected whilst they’re at sea.

How you can help

Please help by contacting your MP and asking them to write to Thérèse Coffey, Minister for Environment in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about why the UK Government urgently needs to include this site in the public consultation.

Key points you might like to raise:

• Seabirds are in trouble. Numbers have dropped drastically since 2000 and without adequate protection and management they will struggle to recover.
• Marine Conservation Zones are important for seabirds to ensure that their important areas at sea are protected, just as their nesting areas are on land. These areas provide a safe haven where rare, declining or threatened species can be protected from harmful activity.
• Cumbria Coast is already a Marine Conservation Zone however the important grounds for seabirds, whilst at sea, fall just outside of this area. As the only breeding site in England for black guillemot and an important habitat for other seabirds such as fulmar, common kittiwake, razorbill and puffin, the zone should be extended to include protection for these birds.
• A healthy marine environment does more than support healthy seabird populations. We get food from the sea, and it provides fishing jobs for isolated communities around the coast. Tourism and recreation, which depend on clean seas and plenty of wildlife to watch, are also important in small communities as well as bringing in substantial economic benefits to local businesses.

You can find your MP and the various ways to contact them via the Write to Them website. Also, all MPs can be reached by writing to them at House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.

Please send copies of your letters or e-mails, and any replies, to Vanessa Amaral-Rogers, Campaigning Communications Officer, RSPB, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire SG19 2BR. Alternatively you can email us.

Seabirds really need your help; and we can do it with the help of the UK government. Action is needed now if we want to start protecting our iconic seabirds.