UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove will present the plans to create more than 40 new Marine Conservation Zones across the UK. This move aims to protect almost 12,000 square kilometres of marine habitats and marks the most significant expansion of the UK’s ‘Blue Belt’ of protected areas until today.
The proposed protections will cover an area almost eight times the size of Greater London, while the new sites will reach right the way across England’s coastline. Namely, from the South West to Berwick on the Scottish border, with two sites in Northern Irish offshore waters.
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No new activities that are considered as damaging, like as dredging, or significant coastal or offshore development, will be permitted to take place in these areas. Existing harmful activities will be reduced or stopped to allow important habitats to be restored over time.
At the same time, the UK’s Prime Minister will call for urgent global action to protect the world’s oceans from plastics and other harmful waste.
Marine Conservation Zones are just one type of the many Marine Protected Areas in place around the UK to safeguard rare, threatened and nationally important habitats and species for future generations. Marine Protected Areas currently cover a total of 209,000 square km.
About 50 zones have already been set uparound England as part of the UK’s ambitious Blue Belt programme, including the first tranche of 27 zones designated in 2013, followed by the second tranche of 23 sites in 2016. If approved, the new Marine Conservation Zones will increase the total figure to around 220,000 square km, making two fifths of the UK coast protected.
