I am heading off to Cornwall later today to visit our south west team today to catch up on the work we are doing at the coast to recover the chough population and am then popping across to the Scilly Isles to catch up on our seabird recovery programme. So, it seems a good time to put a spotlight on coastal and marine conservation issues.
Getting away from the landlocked counties of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire will be a good reminder that our archipelago is home to some of the the biggest and best seabird colonies in the world. During the spring and summer months our shorelines transform into seabird cities with hundreds of thousands of puffins, terns and other iconic seabirds flocking to our coasts to create stunning seabird spectacles. My favourite spot, which I visit every summer, is the kittiwake cliffs a couple of miles up from our hut on the Northumberland coast.
But, in recent years, numbers have dwindled and the cliffs are less raucous - symptomatic of a wider decline that has affected the kittiwake population across the UK. These surface feeders have been affected by warming seas which have changed the emergence of phyoplankton, zooplankton and ultimately the sand eel populations which are the preferred prey of kittiwakes.
Standing on those cliffs, it is impossible not to be emotionally affected by the declines. And kittiwake declines are matched by declines in other species such as Arctic skuas and Arctic terns.
In the last decade, the number of seabirds breeding round the UK has declined by more than 9%- equivalent to a loss of over 600,000 breeding seabirds.
They really need our help. Although seabirds are protected on land, when they leave their colonies and fly out to sea, most of the vital areas they use for feeding, preening and resting are not currently safeguarded in the same way.
That’s why we’re asking the UK Government to consider designating six areas of sea in England as Marine Conservation Zones in order to provide a safe haven in the most important places for puffins, kittiwakes and other seabirds to thrive.
Notwithstanding the legal 'savings' made through the Great Repeal Bill, there is still some uncertainty about the future application of the EU Birds Directive in the UK - there is likely to be greater emphasis on UK law to protect UK species. In early 2016, UK Government announced that it would consider the designation of new MCZs for species such as cetaceans (dolphins), turtles, fish and seabirds. I believe this process is the first opportunity for the UK government, and the new minister Therese Coffey, to demonstrate not only their commitment to designate a blue belt of marine protected areas, but also that they can provide better protection than we currently have.
With our innovative seabird tracking work we’ve identified specific areas of sea that seabirds go back to again and again to forage for food and therefore should be protected- something that up until recently was believed to be impossible to identify. We need the government to act now to protect seabirds at sea to help halt the alarming decline already happening.
The six sites we’re proposing will help secure vital areas for species such as kittiwakes, razorbills and black necked grebes. Without protection of these key areas, our once thriving seabird cities will fall silent.
We need the UK Government, and the minister Therese Coffey, to fulfil the commitment to designate a comprehensive UK MPA network, including seabirds. That's what the hundreds of thousands of RSPB supporters that campaigned for improved protection of the marine environment (culminating in new laws in 2008) expect.
If you’d like to help (once more), you can write to your MP and get them to tell the Minister why these birds need to be protected. 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.
Images courtesy of Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)