The the idea of protecting the best places for nature on land is a familiar and accepted way of doing conservation. The best of the best – our Natura 2000 site network – has been a success (there’s a long way to go to complete the network, but that’s another story).
The requirement to protect the best sites at sea has been there for as long as it has on land – but the UK’s approach has, until recently, been well, all at sea. There are many reasons for this, not least the difficulty of encountering the wealth of wildlife that’s actually there.
However – set against the woeful lack of progress it's great news that 12 sites are now in the pipeline. On 26 February consultation ends on two Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and 10 Special Areas of Conservation. The SPAs are the Outer Thames and Liverpool Bay.
If you look back at what I wrote previously (the ‘all at sea’ link above) you will see that we are broadly supportive of these designations even though the SPAs do leave out important populations of birds. One of the species that does feature in both is the red-throated diver. The birds spend the winter in Liverpool Bay and the Outer Thames in large numbers. At this time of year, they are in winter plumage – like the larger of the two illustrations.
So there is still time to make your voice heard in this important consultation – here’s the link. Many thanks if you have already done it.
I'm glad that our marine habitats are finally getting some protection at last, the Marine Bill campaign has been going on for years and finally the marine environment is being recognised as something that needs protecting just as much as habitats on land does.
Millie & Fly the Border Collies