Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

With a Coastline of over 12,000 km the UK has a large marine area, rich in marine life and natural resource. The UK Government vision is for ‘clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas’ and to this effect the UK has signed up to international agreements that aim to establish an ‘ecologically coherent’ network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

In the UK, MPAs have primarily been set up to help conserve or recover nationally significant or representative examples of marine biodiversity, including threatened or declining species and habitats of European and national importance.

Currently, 7.8% of UK waters out to the 200 nautical mile fishery limit (or median line, as applicable) have some form of protection under Natura 2000 designation.

The current proposed new sites would raise that figure to just over 22%, with the likelihood that more will come later as the data improves and objectives are clarified.

Our map below shows the areas already protected and are proposed as part of this first tranche proposal.