Environment secretary Michael Gove has set out plans to create 41 new Marine Conservation Zones across the UK, totalling nearly 12,000 square kilometres of marine habitats, in a consultation on the Third Tranche of Marine Conservation Zones, which closes 20 July.
Government writes:
This consultation is to seek your views on the proposals to designate 41 new Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) and to add new features for conservation in 12 existing MCZs.
The UK is surrounded by some of the richest and most diverse sea life in the world. The sites proposed in this consultation protect a range of rare and threatened species and habitats found in our seas, including: seahorses in seagrass meadows; blue mussel beds supporting sea snails and crabs; cold-water coral reefs with starfish, anemones and sponges; and deep water mud habitats with cockles and sea urchins.
Together with other types of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), these proposed sites will substantially complete the ecologically coherent network of MPAs around our shores, helping to deliver the UK Government and Administrations’ vision of clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas.
We have been working with the Devolved Administrations, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Natural England to take stock of the habitats and species protected in existing and planned MPAs and fill residual gaps within the network. The features protected in these proposed sites have been chosen to fill gaps in the current network, such as where a species or habitat is currently not protected in a region, or where only a very small proportion is protected.
The proposed network will cover approximately 11,700 km2, bringing the total area of protection to over 32,000 square km.
The closing date for the consultation is 20th July 2018.
