16 Jan 2007 - London, UK – A new WWF report identifies
for the first time the most important marine locations in
the UK in urgent need of protection.
“Our seas are becoming busier than ever before due to an
increase in human activities threatening the marine environment,
from fishing and shipping to dredging and wind farms,” said
Kate Reeves, a marine policy officer with WWF-UK.
“This unique marine environment is under serious threat
and unless significant areas are protected now by an urgently
needed Marine Act, these treasures will be lost.”
The five “hotspots” identified in the report are: Plymouth
Sound in South Devon, Blackwater Estuary in Essex, Dogger
Bank in the southern North Sea, Rathlin Island in Northern
Ireland and the Menai Straight in Wales.
The hotspots were chosen for their diverse populations
of wildlife and rich habitat, including rare fan mussels,
cold water corals, grey seals, fireworks anemone, saltmarshes,
branching sponges and killer whales.
“Our report highlighting areas of enormous natural importance
will help in the development of legislation which must include
a national network of marine protected areas to preserve
the richness and diversity of our seas and to restore sites
wherever possible," Reeves added.
"The UK government must ensure there is adequate protection
in the Marine Bill and investment in resources to protect
our seas for future generations, not only for the intrinsic
value of our marine wildlife, but for the goods, services
and livelihoods that this wildlife provides."
END NOTES:
• The “hotspots” concept to identify the most diverse areas
for wildlife conservation has been used on land, but this
was the first time it had been used to identify marine areas.
The methodology developed procedures to analyze the largest
UK marine biological datasets in the UK using six different
measures to identify marine hotspots.
• Lists of species that are known to be rare and/or threatened
in the identified marine hotspots:
Plymouth Reefs: Sunset cup coral, pink seafan and seafan
anemone.
Rathlin Island: Branching sponges (over 143 sponge species
included from 2005/6 surveys, 15 new to science) and burrowing
anemones.
Blackwater Estuary: Saltmarshes (plants like thrift sea
lavender and samphire), native oyster (rare due to pressures
from Pacific oyster alien species).
Menai Strait: Honeycomb worm, burrowing anemone and grey
seals.
Dogger Bank: Sand and gravel communities, potentially an
important area for harbour porpoise and spawning grounds
for herring.
• The report was written by Keith Hiscock and Mark Breckels
of the Marine Biological Association (MBA) in Plymouth.
The MBA of the United Kingdom (www.mba.ac.uk) is a professional
body for marine biologists with some 1,200 members world-wide.
The MBA has earned an international reputation for excellence
and innovation in research, by the resident scientific staff
and visiting research workers, including seven Nobel laureates.
George Hadley, Senior Press Officer
WWF-UK
