Marine Reserves

A fantastic variety of marine habitats and species exist along the UK's 20,000km coastline which descends to depths in excess of 2,000m over the UK continental shelf.  Essex has arguably the longest coastline of all English counties stretching for over 300 miles and supports an abundance of wildlife.  This coastline is home to hundreds of thousands of wetland birds, including Brent Geese, Dunlin, Knot, Shelduck and Redshank.  The fisheries amongst the marshes contain important stock of Oysters, Cockles, Bass, Mullet and Eels.  The habitat and some species are covered in the Biodiversity Action Plan and are already indentified in urgent need of protection.  In addition, a WWF report identified the Blackwater Estuary as one of the most important marine locations in the UK, in urgent need of our protection.

Marine Reserves are areas where the habitats and wildlife are permanently protected from all damaging use; habitats can recover and wildlife can flourish.  This leads to a healthy and wildlife rich marine environment that all of us can appreciate and enjoy.  It is as near to its natural state as we can possibly achieve, and which helps us to understand how our seas work.

Essex Wildllife Trust with the Essex Biodiversity Project, aims to protect, conserve and enhance key wildlife species and habitats in Essex.  A key objective of the strategic plan is to undertake a biological survey of the inter-tidal area of the Blackwater Estuary in line with the Water Framework Directive.  Using a model successfully developed by Kent Wildlife Trust, Shoresearch utilises the skills of volunteers with an interest in wildlife conservation.  Professional training is provided to accurately identify and record plants and animals from inter-tidal areas.  Initial focus will be on the Blackwater Estuary, due to the recognised importance of the area, extending the project to incorporate the whole of the Essex inter-tidal area in due course.

By recording and mapping shoreline habitat and species, Shoresearch will provide a comprehensive picture of what is happening on our coastline.  The data will be freely available to the general public and incorporated into a Geographical Information System to be used as a decision making tool, ensuring appropriate conservation action can be taken.

Ultimately, Shoresearch will enable conservation organisations to effectvely assess and monitor the state of the marine and estuarine environments, identify the richest sites, problem areas and where changes are occurring, and those sites in need of protection.  Better informed decisions on the marine and estuarine environments of Essex will enable us to protect our aquatic biodiversity for future generations to enjoy.

The Wildlife Trusts have been campaigning for the inclusion of a Marine Bill in the Queen's Speech for a number of years, which was achieved in November 2008.  We are now actively working to try and influence what is included in the Marine Bill and are lobbying MP's to improve the Bill for marine conservation areas.