Government today (28 February) announces three Highly Protected Marine Areas will be designated by July 2023
Marine habitats and wildlife are set to receive the highest levels of protection as the Environment Secretary today (28 February) announces the Government will designate the first three Highly Protected Marine Areas in English waters.
Delivering on the commitments set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan, Highly Protected Marine Areas will enable nature to fully recover by removing all harmful activities including fishing, construction and dredging, increasing marine biodiversity and supporting climate-resilient ecosystems to thrive.
From safeguarding ‘blue carbon’ habitats to help tackle climate change; protecting the feeding and nursery grounds of commercially important fish species such as cod and herring; through to reversing the impacts of human activity on degraded marine ecosystems, the first three Highly Protected Marine Areas were chosen due to the ecological importance of nature recovery in the sites.
The three sites being taken forward will be designated before 6 July 2023 and are Allonby Bay (Irish Sea), Dolphin Head (Eastern Channel) and North East of Farnes Deep (Northern North Sea).
The first three Highly Protected Marine Areas include inshore and offshore sites and will complement the existing network of Marine Protected Areas covering 40% of English waters. Their introduction follows recommendations in the Benyon Review to help achieve clean, healthy, safe, productive, and biologically diverse ocean and seas, and drives forward the Government’s commitment to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030.
See the Consultation outcome: Highly Protected Marine Areas pilot sites
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Posted On: 28/02/2023