Island Life Magazine Ltd February / March 2016 | Page 66

COUNTRY LIFE

Photo: Sea Hare on seaweed by Paul Naylor

Marine
sanctuaries

on our doorstep

T

hree areas off the coast of the Isle
of Wight are set to get national
protection for the special wildlife
they support – the first of their kind in
our region - after campaigning by the
Wildlife Trusts and their supporters
These three new Marine Conservation
Zones (MCZs) – The Needles, Utopia,
and Offshore Overfalls - include a range
of spectacular underwater landscapes,
including chalk reefs, rocky sponge
gardens and submerged river valleys.
These habitats support wildlife the
tope shark, undulate rays and reef
communities of corals, sponges and
anemones – some species of which
66

www.visitilife.com

By Tim Ferrero at Hampshire &
Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
haven’t yet been identified.
They’re also home to internationally
important seagrass beds – British
populations of which were recently
found to be in a ‘perilous state’. Seagrass
provides a great nursery habitat for
young fish - including those we eat - so
seagrass beds are good news for fish
stocks. It is also the only true flowering
plant in the sea and it also absorbs
harmful nutrients. Like other plants, it
produces oxygen and is very efficient at

storing carbon dioxide and limiting the
impacts of climate change.
The damage wildlife in our oceans
has suffered over the years means the
status quo just isn’t enough – nature
needs space and time to recover from
pollution, climate change and harmful
activities like mooring boats and
dredging.
However designating these three new
MCZs is just the first step in the process,
and the hard work begins here. The next
steps will be local management plans
for the site being developed, agreed
and implemented. We all need to work
together – conservation organisations,