Bempton Cliffs – Step Up for Seabirds!
Earlier this year I steadied my sea legs and began a brand new role as an RSPB Marine Conservation Officer for the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber. My job is to protect and conserve our sealife and the marine environment.
One way we can help our sealife is by creating a coherent network of Marine Protected Areas. More than 200,000 seabirds come to Bempton Cliffs during the breeding season. On the cliffs they are protected but the waters where they feed and rest are not safeguarded. In fact at the moment less than 0.1% of the UK’s waters are protected from all damaging marine activities.
There is an urgent need for national and international laws to be implemented to develop a network of Marine Protected Areas. This process is underway but unfortunately the needs of some of our most precious sealife, particularly seabirds, are not being considered properly.
The RSPB and its supporters have been campaigning for the marine environment for over a decade and we don’t intend to stop now!
Over the last few months, the RSPB has kicked off a new marine petition which asks people to step up and help safeguard our seabirds at sea. This is aimed at ensuring that seabirds benefit from the same protection at sea that they currently enjoy on land. The Marine pledge is due to be handed in to Government in England and Wales in November – which gives us less than two months to collect as many signatures as possible. The more signatures we collect, the more pressure it will put on the Government to step up for seabirds.
Please take a moment to click on the following link and add your voice to ours: www.rspb.org.uk/marinepetition
What you can also do to help:
. Go on Twitter and Facebook and post www.rspb.org.uk/marinepetition onto your profile page.
· Perhaps you have friends or family who wouldn’t mind signing this? Or even colleagues at work? Each signature we collect makes all the difference so please send the link on!
· Get in touch with any non-RSPB bird groups you belong to and ask if they are interested in supporting the RSPB’s Marine Campaign and let them know how they can get involved
For further information about the campaign, or to request paper copies of the petition leaflet for distribution, please contact me on: helen.quayle@rspb.org.uk
Thank you for your support.