AT PRESENT, the Government is consulting on a third tranche of Marine Conservation Zone designations for England and all around the country local Wildlife Trusts are championing the proposed zones in their region in order to gather support for their designation.

You may be wondering what it’s all about, why you should care, and how we got to this point.

The process began back in 2009, when the Government passed the Marine and Coastal Access Act, creating the legislation to establish Marine Conservation Zones, a special type of Marine Protected Area. 

Similarly to nature reserves, these protected areas would provide an area safe from damaging activities to allow the species and habitats to thrive and/or recover. 

Marine Conservation Zones are not, however, no-take zones or cordoned off areas.

In 2013, the first tranche of Marine Conservation Zones were designated, 27 of them in total. 

Here in Sussex, three sites were designated. They are Beachy Head West, Kingmere and Pagham Harbour.

Subsequently, a further 23 sites were designated in the second tranche in 2016, including a further three sites in Sussex waters. 

They are Utopia, Offshore Overfalls and Offshore Brighton.

We are now in the process of public consultation of the third tranche of MCZ designations, meaning that we are one step closer to achieving an ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas. 

Sarah Ward is the Marine Officer at Sussex Wildlife Trust.