The government has created 41 new marine conservation zones, which will result in an area nearly twice the size of England becoming a ‘blue belt’ of protected waters.
Countless species and habitats will benefit from the new protections, including the ocean quahog, shortsnouted seahorse, ross worm reefs and blue mussel beds. Areas protected will stem from Studland Bay near Bournemouth up to the Goodwin Sands of the Deal Coast in Kent, with coverage of 4,633 square miles (the equivalent to eight times the size of Greater London). The expansion will bring the total number of marine protected areas around the UK coastline to 355.