our irish sea - The Wildlife Trusts
Transcription
our irish sea - The Wildlife Trusts
OUR IRISH SEA A PROJECT FUNDED BY ESMEE FAIRBAIRN FOUNDATION AND BURBO BANK EXTENSION COMMUNITY FUND Who we are The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside (the Trust) is a local wildlife charity, working to protect wildlife for the future. We were established in 1962 and started as a core group of volunteers, growing now into one of the largest Wildlife Trusts in the country with over 100 members of staff employed. We manage reserves, deliver projects and engage people in wildlife and conservation. The Trust’s vision of Living Seas is where marine wildlife thrives, from the depths of the ocean to the coastal shallows, recovering from decades of neglect. Our beneficiaries are the people, wildlife and wild places of Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Merseyside and the adjacent Irish Sea; now and into the future. The Need Sir David Attenborough once said: “No one will protect what they don’t care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced.” But what if we can’t easily experience something, does this mean we shouldn’t protect it? What if the place we want to protect is sometimes dark and murky, and the creatures that live there are a little ‘unusual’? How can we get people to care? For much of the Irish Sea, this is our reality. There is a lack of awareness and support from local people, and schools, about the importance of our Living Seas and the threats that are upon them. We need to help people experience our Living Seas through a variety of means in order for them to value it. People need to value the marine environment in order for them to want to protect it for the future. Poor public perceptions of our underwater environment are some of the biggest barriers we face in the UK, marine conservation – and one that The Wildlife Trusts have been working tirelessly to change over the past 30 years. Qualitative and quantitative research undertaken by Natural England (2008) into public engagement with the undersea landscape in England, demonstrated that there are some clear regional differences in perception. Particularly, the “Northerners describe ‘their’ sea as dirtier and colder than the rest of the country and cite industrial pollution as a big factor in this”. Recent surveys have shown that in the North West, 51% of participants had heard of the idea of ‘Marine Reserves’ but thought that 29% of the UK’s sea area was already protected. In reality, over 16% of our seas are now classed as marine protected areas but only a fraction are being actively managed to prevent damaging activities. People felt that our seas should be protected but were unclear of how to engage and what needed doing. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall said “When people take action, politicians have to listen.” Nationally and in other parts of the UK, the Wildlife Trusts have demonstrated that where we invest time to co-ordinate campaigns, we can influence policy. For example, the Petition Fish campaign was a huge success. Why is it so urgent that we act now? Marine habitats as diverse as the Amazon rainforest, and the communities they support, are at high risk of further damage and deterioration unless the Government takes urgent action to protect them and restrict damaging fishing practices in the Irish Sea. Stocks of fish in the Irish Sea including cod, whiting and sole are reaching crisis point – suffering declines of 80-90% since the late 1980s – due to the vast numbers that are caught as bycatch from the Dublin Bay prawn fishery. If exploitation continues at the same rate, these fish species could go extinct in the Irish Sea within the next 10 years. At the same time, vulnerable habitats continue to be damaged and we could lose some species: cold-water corals have already disappeared decades ago due to fishing damage. Our marine megafauna – the 29 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises, and basking sharks regularly found around our coast - are still at risk from damaging activities and some species are in decline. The nutrient-rich places they need most for feeding, breeding and socialising are not protected - there are currently no areas of English waters protected for them, and only one in Wales. Habitat damage and species loss are just some of the issues facing the Irish Sea. Although the Government has begun protecting areas so that marine wildlife can begin to recover from decades of damage and over-exploitation, there is still a lot to be done. Progress is certainly a lot slower than anticipated due the complex interaction of interests and jurisdictional issues that face this extremely busy sea. This means that despite recent progress in some areas, the general trend is still one of decline. Out of the 50 Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) that have been designated to date, only four MCZs lie in the Irish Sea. 19 MCZs were originally proposed to the Government five years ago. The management of new and existing protected areas has also been slow. There is an opportunity now to build on the momentum gathered from recent campaigns around MCZs and fisheries issues. We have the potential to avoid a mass extinction of species and habitats in the Irish Sea. However, our seas and marine life need to be valued and urgent action needs to be taken, otherwise we could be seeing this scenario within the next decade. Why is this particular proposal a priority for us and how are we uniquely qualified to tackle the need? We believe that Living Seas, alongside Living Landscapes, are essential for the protection and enhancement of our wildlife into the future. Our vision for thriving marine wildlife is supported by our ongoing marine advocacy and support with the North West Marine Steering Group, contribution to marine campaigns and promotion of Living Seas, however we are aware that much more needs to be done at a local level to step up our campaign work and engage with a wider audience. Currently there is a lack of capacity within the Trust to drive forward marine campaigns, or effectively engage the general public and volunteers in the marine environment. In the North West we have a Marine Conservation Officer (supported by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation) who works full-time on the Irish Sea Marine Advocacy Programme. Whilst strategic advocacy can be effective at a regional level, it is difficult to effectively engage with communities at a local level through a regional approach. This project will enable face-to-face activities. The Trust benefits from being part of a network of other Wildlife Trusts across the UK who have a wealth of experience in delivering marine education and awareness, and we have also delivered aspects of marine awareness in previous engagement projects such as the Morecambe Bay Wealth of Wildlife Project which through a series of family events, walks and training opportunities, engaged a wide audience in the wildlife delights of Morecambe Bay. Furthermore, we are very experienced in ways to inspire, involve and engage communities in activities with land-based conservation. Examples include community engagement work for the Chat Moss project where local people have lost their connection (funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation 2011 - 2017) and reaching new audiences and instilling a sense of pride in urban nature reserves through our Gateway to Urban Nature project (2009 – 2012) The needs identified by our beneficiaries: A marine awareness campaign can be very wide-ranging and across such a large area can become very diluted with little impact. To ensure that we can target the right places, reach the right audiences, and organise activities that people actually want to take part in, we have spoken to a number of partners and conducted a survey. A separate report has been produced on our findings but the following highlights were found: Connect and Take Notice: There is a need for more information to reach a wider audiences. Messages need to be clear and simple, but spell out the urgency for action. We need to hook messages onto existing activities, look at ways to incorporate messages and amazing facts into information we promote about Living Seas. There needs to be an initial hook to gain the public’s interest and a presence in the community at every event we possibly can. We need to explore ways in which we can inspire those people who already have an interest in wildlife but are not aware of the threats to our marine environment. Give: There is clearly a wish for people to help with campaigns although people do have very limited time. We need to explore easy ways in which people can participate, and build on volunteering opportunities already out there. A lot of people have ideas and want to help; we need to harness this enthusiasm and enable support where people are keen to give it. Learning Something New and Be Active: There are so many amazing facts about our marine life. We just need the ability to get out there to wow people about why it is so valuable. We need to inspire people to come and visit our coastline, promote safe and accessible nature reserves, and give people the confidence to get the most out of their experience and time while they are visiting. Who will benefit and the difference we will make: People will be inspired and engaged in our awareness raising activities helping them to learn something new and connect with their sea. Our activities will be accessible, fun and relevant to new audiences. It will give them time to take notice of their coastline & seas and help protect these. It will encourage people to use their coastline to become more active. Once people value their marine environment & our Irish Sea, they will be more inspired to take action in support of marine conservation. The marine environment will also benefit if people are inspired to take action and put pressure on the politicians to make our vision of Living Seas a reality. The project will make a difference by: Increasing public awareness and action in support of marine conservation; Building the engagement of local NGOs in marine conservation in positive ways; Galvanising the power of the people in helping to include conservation concerns in marine policy. Influencing marine conservation to help us recover wildlife and habitats from past declines as our use of the seas’ resources becomes environmentally sustainable. Outcomes and targets Outcomes Key Outcome Progress indicator 1 Increased public awareness and engagement in support of marine conservation of the Irish Sea Interactive website and social media using simple messages; collecting and sharing stories of marine wildlife; 84 events; number of people attending events 2 Increase in volunteers and more volunteers acting as Living Seas Champions for the Irish Sea 120 volunteers involved in activities; 20 marine champions recruited, trained and supported; increase in positive local action; 3 Build the engagement of local visitor centres, museums, schools etc. in marine conservation in positive ways Run events in partnership with others; Provide information to, and train staff and volunteers from a wide range of organisations, to ensure key messages can be incorporated in to their events and tours