03 Oct 2016

Good news from Scotland, countered by the European Commission’s decision to take UK to court (two articles). The foot dragging for over 20 years had to come to an end sometime. A NEW conservation area has been set up in waters off the west of Scotland to help protect harbour porpoise. A Special Area of […]

03 Oct 2016

Conservationists say 48 new protected areas are needed to fill the gaps in the ‘blue belt’ coastal network to ensure wildlife can flourish Conservationists have called for the creation of a further 48 protected areas in English waters that would “fill in the gaps” of a national network designed to ensure healthy and productive seas. […]

03 Oct 2016

Environmental NGOs Oceana, Seas At Risk and WWF have urged the European Commission to be rigorous in its assessment of member states’ performance on protecting their oceans, and on member states to fulfil their obligations to protect those areas that are home to Europe’s most threatened marine life. The call comes ahead of this week’s […]

26 Sep 2016

Massive fund – 48 million dollars committed to MPAs At the 2016 Our Ocean conference in Washington, D.C. today, WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) released the following statement: ‘The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), along with the Waitt Foundation, the blue moon fund (bmf), and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), was pleased to announce today a major […]

12 Sep 2016

The race for vast remote ‘marine protected areas’ may be a diversion  Peter Jones The seas around Hawaii are set to become the world’s largest marine protected area, US president Barack Obama has announced. The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument will be expanded to more than 1.5 million square kilometres – that’s as big as France, […]

05 Sep 2016

Outgoing Presidents seem to like declaring MPAs – this one is in time for the IUCN World Congress. Openchannels: ‘On 26 August, US President Barack Obama expanded the boundaries of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands from its previous size of 362,000 km2 — already one of the largest MPAs in the […]

03 May 2016

Building social capital – relationships, trust and communication – can deliver outstanding results – see the Lofoten example below. The Berwickshire and Northumberland Marine Nature Partnership is a collaboration of twenty Scottish and English organisations focussed on managing our local inshore waters. The original partnership was established 16 years ago to proactively manage the Berwickshire […]