24 Dec 2024

Innovation, research and a mammoth volunteering effort helped conservationists learn more about wildlife in UK seas, reveals The Wildlife Trusts’ 2024 Marine Review. Every year The Wildlife Trusts’ Living Seas teams compile a Marine Review that explores the wildlife in UK seas. The Review reflects on work to protect and restore UK seas by staff, […]

02 Jul 2024

By Keith Hiscock, Associate Fellow, Marine Biological Association Marine life in the seas around Britain is diverse: from the colourful anemones in rockpools to huge basking sharks. Our oceans are important socially and economically – they provide us with healthy food and other resources, they benefit our mental health and physical wellbeing, and offer endless […]

06 May 2024

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has published a consultation on the review of Northern Ireland’s Marine Protected Areas strategy. Since the publication and implementation of the original Marine Protected Area (MPA) Strategy in 2014, several key strategic policy drivers have been developed at global, UK and Northern Ireland levels relating to […]

12 Mar 2024

Protected areas are set to cover one-third of oceans by 2030 yet rigorous empirical estimates of the relative performance of different marine protected area (MPA) types are few, so states a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The study compares the benefits from no-take vs. multiple-use MPAs, providing insights […]

12 Mar 2024

The UK government has partnered with conservation charity ZSL to launch an app update that enables wildlife enthusiasts to track and log marine creatures in waters around British Overseas Territories (OTs). The announcement was made by the Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Lord Benyon, at the Blue Belt Symposium in […]

28 Nov 2023

New research highlights how the estimated 50,000 wrecks around the UK coastline are protecting the seabed. An estimated 50,000 shipwrecks can be found around the UK’s coastline and have been acting as a hidden refuge for fish, corals and other marine species in areas still open to destructive bottom towed fishing, a new study has […]

22 Aug 2023

Gabon completed mainland Africa’s first-ever “debt-for-nature swap” , refinancing $500 million of its debt and earmarking $163 million in savings for marine conservation, the latest in a burgeoning list of “blue bond” deals. The central African nation, home to the world’s largest population of leatherback turtles, will spend the money over the next 15 years identifying new marine […]

04 Jul 2023

Proposals for a series of Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMA) have been scrapped, the Scottish Government has confirmed. Proposals had previously been put forward to create HPMAs in at least 10% of Scotland’s waters – which would have restricted fishing and other activities. Plans to deliver increased protection for Scotland’s marine environment will be revised, […]