Marine Conservation Zones

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Marine Protected Areas, including Marine Conservation Zones and European protected sites, are one of the most crucial tools for conserving marine wildlife in the UK.

Marine Conservation Zones

The UK Government have designated 132 MCZs in English and Northern Irish waters, with the latest Tranche of designations announced in June 2019. Cornwall boasts 22 MCZs in our waters, protecting some of our most wonderful and important wildlife and habitats, from the iconic Crawfish and Giant Gobies to vibrant underwater rocky reefs and muddy deep seabed.

What is an MCZ?

As a result of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, a network of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) has been created that protect marine species and habitats.

MCZs provide an opportunity to halt and reverse the damage and degradation of the marine environment by controlling the human activities conducted in certain areas. Government has decided that these MCZs will be identified in three key stages, or tranches. 50 MCZs were designated since 2013 and another 41 have been proposed across English waters in 2016, including 14 here in Cornwall.

We’re delighted that in June 2019 another 41 MCZ were designated, including 8 more within Cornish waters.

We will be working towards ensuring that these protected areas have appropriate management and legal protection needed for healthy and resilient seas.

Cornwall’s latest Marine Conservation Zones

Camel Estuary [link - https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2019-05/Camel%20Estu…]
Helford Estuary [link - https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2019-05/Helford%20Es…]

Off-shore sites:

Cape Bank
North-East of Haig Fras
South of Celtic Deep
South of the Isles of Scilly
South West Approaches to Bristol Channel
South West Deeps (East)

To learn about all the Marine Conservation Zones in the Southwest, please visit The Wildlife Trust’s website [link - https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/marine-protected-areas/england/western-c…]

European Marine Protected Areas

European Marine Sites are areas at sea that are designated to protect wildlife and habitats that are important at a European level and are created under EU Legislation. There are two types of European Marine Site; Special Protection Areas (SPAs) which protect birds and their essential habitats and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) which protect other wildlife and important habitats.

Cornwall has 4 Marine Special Areas of Conservation in Cornwall;

Fal and Heford SAC designated to protect wintering birds [link - http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/ProtectedSites/SACselection/sac.asp?EUCode=UK0…]
Isles of Scilly Complex SAC designated to protect intertidal habitats, rocky reefs, Shoredock and grey seals [link - http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/ProtectedSites/SACselection/sac.asp?EUCode=UK0…]
Plymouth Sound and Estuaries SAC designated to protect the estuaries and inlets, sandbanks, reefs and salt meadows [link - http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/ProtectedSites/SACselection/sac.asp?EUCode=UK0…]
River Camel SAC designated to protect Atlantic salmon and otters (amongst other terrestrial and freshwaters species and habitats) [link - http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/ProtectedSites/SACselection/sac.asp?EUCode=UK0…]

3 Marine Special Protected Areas designated in Cornish waters;

Falmouth Bay to St Austell Bay SPA designated to protect over wintering birds; black-throated diver, great northern diver and slavonian grebe
Isles of Scilly SPA designated for lesser Black-backed Gull and Storm Petrel
Tamar Estuaries Complex SPA designated for little egret and aovocet

Government says yes to Highly Protected Marine Areas!

We are pleased to announce the arrival of the long fought-for sea sanctuaries where all damaging activities will be banned - Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) - the first of their kind in English seas.
The Wildlife Trust's have called for HPMAs for the last 3 years and the petition urging their speedy implementation was signed by over 10,000 people. HPMAs will give our degraded seas the best chance of recovery.
Why we want to see more HPMA's? -
The purpose of HPMAs is biodiversity recovery. By setting aside some areas of sea with high levels of protection, HPMAs will allow nature to fully recover to a more natural state, allowing the ecosystem to thrive. HPMAs can act as a nature-based solution to improve the state of our seas, address biodiversity loss, and ensure a more climate resilient marine ecosystem which will deliver benefits for society. HPMAs have also been shown to work in other places around the world - So fingers crossed for more in our waters!