Marine Conservation Society By: Clare Fischer ‘The UK has come under pressure to better protect harbour porpoises after the European Court of Justice ruled that it had failed to provide enough sites for the only member of the porpoise family found in European waters. Dr Jean-Luc Solandt, MCS, Principle Specialist Marine Protected Areas, says: “We’ve been […]
Roseanna Cunningham Environment Secretary visits COAST’s new visitor centre Cunningham commits to tackling “serious issues” of biodiversity loss and climate change Scottish Cabinet Secretary, Roseanna Cunningham, visited us this week at Scotland’s first MPA visitor centre, the Octopus Centre. COAST was pleased to see her interact with the new exhibitions and display her knowledge! But we were […]
It is an Area Beyond National Jurisdiction and important for many marine species and this is an interesting development given the interest in securing greater protection for the high seas. The OSPAR Commission has agreed to seek views of on the site nomination proforma for the proposed ‘North Atlantic Current and Evlanov Seamount Marine Protected […]
Earlier this year Javier Bardem, an Antarctic Ambassador with Greenpeace, dived in a two-person submarine to the seabed of the Antarctic Ocean. On July 10, he met Environment Secretary Michael Gove and joined a panel discussion at Greenpeace’s immersive Antarctic 360° geo-dome to discuss the global campaign to create a 1.8 million square kilometre Antarctic […]
From: Toby Roxburgh, WWF. WWF ‘One of the biggest challenges in establishing effectively managed Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is ensuring that sustainable, long-term funding is available. In the context of limited government budgets, this means new funding sources, and where investment is needed, finance. WWF has been working with Vivid Economics and Environmental Finance to […]
By: Clare Fischer MCS Date posted: 7 February 2018 Two divers have discovered the aftermath of dredging on a recent dive near Insh island in the Firth of Lorn. The pair returned with camera equipment to film the damage along with environmental group Open Seas. When similar damage was found last year to Loch Carron’s flameshell beds, […]
After years of campaigning by WDC and others, the Scottish government announced today that it is considering the creation of four new marine protected areas (MPAs) around its coastline, which will now go out for public consultation. WDC first proposed the three sites that include Risso’s dolphins and minke whales back in 2011. Thanks to the help of our […]
From: Dr Rebekah Cioffi, JNCC Updated offshore MPA conservation advice packages published Our seas have a brilliant variety of marine life and habitats, many of which are rare and nationally important. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) has developed a new approach to its UK offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) conservation advice. The revised approach […]