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Marine Conservation
Marine conservation is the study of conserving physical and biological marine resources and ecosystem functions. This is a relatively new discipline. Marine conservationists rely on a combination of scientific principles derived from marine biology, oceanography, and fisheries science, as well as on human factors such as demand for marine resources and marine law, economics and policy in order to determine how to best protect and conserve marine species and ecosystems. Marine conservation can be seen as a subdiscipline of conservation biology
Date: 22nd September
Beach litter - it’s rubbish!
A team of 24 volunteers cleaned BURNMOUTHBAY beach on 21st September 2008, as part of the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) annual Beachwatch litter survey and clean-up.
Local volunteers helped to make a practical difference to their local beach by removing rubbish from a 550 metre stretch of the beach. Rubbish from a 100 metre stretch of the beach was recorded, so that the main sources of the litter could be identified. MCS will use the survey results from this and the hundreds of other surveys that were carried out over the same weekend, to tackle the sources of beach litter at the national level.
The beach litter survey recorded a total of 1194 items. The 5 most common litter items recorded on the day were plastic cable ties, angler’s fishing line, fishing rope, small, plastic pieces and pieces of clothing. All together 29 plastic refuse bags of litter and over half a tonne of other rubbish was collected from Partanhall, Lower Burnmouth, Cowdrait, and Ross.
Unusual items found included a wheel barrow frame, a 2 metre scaffold pole,3 golf balls and part of awooden boat. The survey showed that the major source of the beach litter was washed ashore from the fishing industry.
MCS Beachwatch, the flagship event of the MCS Adopt-a-Beach project, took place over the weekend of the 20th and 21st September 2008 on beaches all over the UK. Data recorded at each survey has been sent to the MCS to identify the quantities and sources of marine and beach litter. MCS will use these results at a national level to campaign against the sources of litter and publish the results in the National Beachwatch report in Spring 2009. MCS Beachwatch and Adopt-a-Beach are sponsored by the Crown Estate.
For more information about the MCS litter projects and what can be done to help reduce beach litter please contact the Marine Conservation Society directly on 01989 567807.
ENDS
MCS Beachwatch 2008 Staff Contacts:
Emma Snowden, MCS Litter Projects Coordinator – Tel: 01989 567807/ 07793 118388
Sue Kinsey, MCS Adopt-a-Beach Officer – Tel: 01989 567807
Beachwatch contact number for the public – Tel: 01989 567807
Richard Harrington, MCS Communications Manager – Tel: 01989 561585 / 07793 118384
General Marine Conservation Society switchboard – Tel: 01989 566017
E-mail: beachwatch@mcsuk.org
Register online at: www.adoptabeach.org.uk
Websites: www.mcsuk.org
www.goodbeachguide.co.uk
Editors Notes:
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is the UK charity dedicated to the protection of our seas, shores and wildlife. MCS campaigns for clean seas and beaches, sustainable fisheries, and protection of marine life. Through education, community involvement and collaboration, MCS raises awareness of the many threats that face our seas and promotes individual, industry and government action to protect the marine environment. MCS provides information and guidance on many aspects of marine conservation and produces the annual Good Beach Guide (www.goodbeachguide.co.uk), the Good Fish Guide andwww.fishonline.orgon sustainable seafood, as well as promoting public participation in volunteer projects and surveys such as MCS Beachwatch, Adopt-a-Beach and Basking Shark Watch.www.mcsuk.org The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is celebrating 25 years of protecting our precious seas, shores and wildlife this year. MCS will be running a series of events and initiatives in 2008 to highlight the need for better protection of our seas, celebrate the wildlife they support and give opportunities for people to take an active part - on land or at sea. Log onto http://www.mcsuk.org/jubilee/upload.php
MCS Beachwatch is an annual UK-wide beach litter survey and clean up, organised by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) since 1993. MCSBeachwatch is the flagship event of the Adopt-a-Beach project, which encourages local volunteers to survey marine litter every quarter. Volunteers remove all the litter from a measured area of their local beach, recording every item that they find. The data gathered from MCS Beachwatch every September is published by MCS in the Beachwatch Report. This information is used at a national level to raise awareness of the impacts of litter, to promote measures to reduce litter at source and to campaign for aquatic litter legislation. The fifteenth MCS Beachwatch litter survey and beach clean took place on the 15th and 16th September 2007.
The MCS Beachwatch 2007 Summary Report can be downloaded at www.mcsuk.org and www.adoptabeach.org.uk, alternatively the report can be emailed by request from beachwatch@mcsuk.org. The full report can also be downloaded at www.mcsuk.org and www.adoptabeach.org.uk.
The Crown Estate has supported the Marine Conservation Society’s MCS Beachwatch campaign through its Marine Stewardship Fund since 1999. As owner of over half the UK’s foreshore and almost all the seabed out to the 12 nautical mile territorial limit The Crown Estate places great emphasis on the good management and stewardship of the diverse coastal land in its care. Beachwatch is an excellent example of The Crown Estate and the Marine Conservation Society working together for the seventh consecutive year to raise public awareness of marine pollution and encouraging participation at a local level. For more information about The Crown Estate visit www.thecrownestate.co.uk or contact: Katie King, Communications Dept, The Crown Estate: 020 7851 5009
katie.king@thecrownestate.co.uk
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Marine Weather ForecastYour EasyTide PredictionFor more information about marine conservation and ways you can help protect our coast and marine lifecontact Paul Oswald Tel. 0189781419
Marine conservation organisations and educationThere are marine conservation organisations throughout the world that focus on funding conservation efforts, educating the public and stakeholders, and lobbying for conservation law and policy. Examples of these organizations are the Blue Frontier Campaign (United States), and Marine Conservation Society (United Kingdom). Site Last Updated - 31/07/2010 22:19:29
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