Petition launched to press for better protected seas

Devon Wildlife Trust (DWT) officially launched its Petition Fish campaign on Friday 29 July to push for effective marine reserves around Devon as part of a network of marine protected areas throughout the UK. The launch was held at Wembury Marine Centre. The petition has already gained significant support over the past few months with many specially-produced foil fish scales already signed by people visiting the Centre. A similar petition was organised in 2007 to push for an effective Marine and Coastal Access Act and now the charity, in conjunction with Wildlife Trusts across the country, plans to collect thousands of signatures from people who would like to see areas of sea and coastline protected for the benefit of both people and wildlife. Peter Burgess, DWT's Conservation Advocacy Manager said: "It is essential that the proposed network of Marine Conservation Zones which has been promised as part of the Marine Act is put into place by the end of next year. It has taken a great deal of public support and effort to get to this stage and we now urge people to help us make sure we don't lose momentum. These zones need to be in the right place, well managed and support recovery from past decline if we are to achieve our aim for Living Seas." Some of the sites around Devon's coast which are proposed as areas to receive greater protection include the north Devon coast between Bideford and Foreland Point, and areas in Torbay. Peter added: "At present our seas are a shadow of their former selves. For centuries, we have taken our sea's riches for granted, taking too much with too little care. At present, only 2% of the UK's sea area has even a minimal level of protection for wildlife and less than 0.001% is fully protected from all damaging activities. We need a healthy, well protected sea so it can survive the many demands humans put on it." The organisation will be promoting the petition through its range of events at Wembury Marine Centre and at other locations over the summer starting this weekend with National Marine Weeks. The plan is to present all the signed Petition Fish from across the region to Government next year to make sure its acts decisively so that the network of reserves is in place by the end of 2012. For more information about the campaign and to sign a virtual scale online visit www.devonwildlifetrust.org/petition-fish/ Ref: DWT 27 July 2011