Chris Corrigan is CEO of the Sussex Wildlife Belief and has labored in nature conservation for nearly 40 years. He spent most of his profession with the RSPB, most lately as Director England, however has additionally labored for BirdWatch Eire and Butterfly Conservation and is a trustee of the South Georgia Heritage Belief. He’s a lifelong birder and naturalist.
Taking a stand for marine safety
I’ve spent 40 years working in nature conservation however coming to Sussex Wildlife Belief (SWT) has made me realise how a lot of my expertise has been skewed in direction of terrestrial habitats and soft-sediment intertidal ecosystems. Nonetheless, I’ve now seen the undersea mild! At SWT, the next proportion of our work is targeted on the marine setting, about which I now realise I do know far too little, however am slowly studying extra.
Like its terrestrial counterpart, the marine setting is below siege from air pollution, growing sedimentation, over-fishing and the acute marine heatwave occasions pushed by local weather change. These are placing our seas in danger like by no means earlier than. Sussex isn’t distinctive on this respect, nevertheless it has been energising to work in an organisation, and with skilled colleagues, who’re dedicated to creating change at scale.
Maybe probably the most iconic indicator of the well being of the Sussex marine ecosystem is kelp. Our as soon as in depth kelp beds have declined by over 96% for the reason that Nineteen Eighties. This horrendous decline triggered a exceptional cross-sectoral partnership, together with a really enlightened and proactive Sussex Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority (IFCA), to return collectively to attempt to flip issues spherical. With the backing of an area “Assist Our Kelp” marketing campaign, Sussex IFCA led the institution of a byelaw, banning bottom-trawling from over 300 sq. kilometres of seabed. The aim was to permit the restoration of important fish habitats, together with kelp, which might characterize restoration on a really grand scale. This endeavour has been supported by the multi-partner Sussex Kelp Restoration Undertaking, on the core of which is a complete analysis and monitoring programme to observe and assist this nature-led journey to rewild and get better our seabed.
With such critical motion and strong dedication, backed up by a community of Marine Protected Areas, it might be straightforward to assume that each one is nicely within the Sussex marine setting. After all, this could be unduly optimistic and complacent. Success can’t be taken without any consideration.
A latest stark reminder pertains to Brighton Marina (a big retail, leisure and housing growth in addition to a marina). This was constructed within the Nineteen Seventies and may have induced the destruction of huge areas of essential habitats on the time. It now requires common dredging to maintain channels clear. The unique permitted quantity of dredged spoil was 50,000 tonnes each year, extra lately doubled to 100,000 tonnes, all of which is dumped within the adjoining Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ).
This MCZ was designated in 2013, lengthy after the marina was constructed, to guard the Quick-snouted Seahorse, Native Oyster, Blue Mussel beds and a spread of habitats together with littoral chalk communities, a uncommon habitat within the UK. Chalk types lower than 1% of Britain’s shoreline and greater than half of that’s in Sussex and Kent. Internationally, coastal chalk is even rarer, with most of it in north-west Europe. England holds a globally vital proportion of all of the world’s marine chalk, that means now we have a particular accountability to guard it. What occurs to the chalk reefs on this MCZ issues.
In 2024, the licence to dump dredgings within the MCZ got here up for renewal. Sussex Wildlife Belief, working with different organisations, together with Surfers Towards Sewage and Sussex Underwater, objected and started a marketing campaign in opposition to the renewal of the licence. The MCZ is supposedly a protected website supporting uncommon and threatened habitats and species! Crucially, our opposition didn’t search to cease dredging and successfully shut the marina. Our intention was to make sure the silt was dumped in one of many obtainable (however much less handy and presumably extra pricey) various websites.
Regardless of our marketing campaign, the weak spot and gaps in knowledge and monitoring, and the supply of different disposal websites, the Marine Administration Organisation (MMO) authorised the appliance.
However sufficient is sufficient. We aren’t ready to let an essential and supposedly protected website proceed to be let down by choice makers. Until one thing actively modifications, the conservation goal to get better the littoral chalk communities to beneficial situation will stay a paper pipedream. This poor choice making isn’t distinctive to the Beachy Head West MCZ. It’s a unhappy reality of life for most of the 91 MCZs designated across the English coast.
As soon as a choice has been made, there are a restricted variety of choices – however the option to pursue a judicial evaluation is one in all them. It is a large step for a single Wildlife Belief, and it comes with vital threat and value. Nonetheless, with the backing of workers and trustees and unimaginable assist from the Surroundings Legislation Basis and Leigh Day now we have taken the choice to proceed with our motion in opposition to the MMO. Our skilled authorized workforce will imply now we have the absolute best probability of success.
I hope this native motion can contribute to the broader motion pushing for simpler safety and administration of our treasured marine habitats it has taken me too lengthy to correctly admire. Solely with a radical change to the best way our seas are handled will we stand any probability of reaching the 30×30 marine aim. Daring motion is required and we’re decided to play our half.
[registration_form]