Over fishing, pollution and marine litter, such as plastics, nurdles (raw plastic beads used by industry) and discarded fishing gear, all pose a threat to marine wildlife. Sadly, over the past couple of years, we have also seen huge quantities of personal protective items associated with Covid-19, finding their way into our rivers, estuaries and seas. Dorset is fortunate to have a rich and diverse coastal and marine environment. This diversity has been recognised with the designation of several Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) off the Dorset Coast. 

Find out more about Dorset's MPAs

However, we must not take the quality of Dorset’s marine environment for granted. Many of the global threats to marine wildlife are present in Dorset seas. Well managed MPAs can help to protect the local inshore fishing industry, support tourism and recreation and also make a contribution to carbon capture and storage. For example, the UK has lost about 90% of our seagrass in the past 100 years or so. If we can enable seagrass to expand and flourish it has huge capacity for absorbing carbon and supports many species of fish and invertebrates including juvenile fish of important commercial species.

In order to make Dorset’s MPAs effective, we need to make sure that all local communities and other stakeholders are aware, engaged and supportive. Dorset Wildlife Trust, our members and volunteers have a key role to play in these activities. Over the past year we have worked with more than 40 volunteers through our Seasearch and Shoresearch programmes to collect some 4,500 individual species records to help the statutory authorities make good management decisions. Our coastal visitor centres also deliver key messages about marine conservation. The Fine Foundation Wild Seas Centre, the Wild Chesil Centre and the Wildlife and Wetland Centre on Brownsea Island have welcomed almost 120,000 visitors and delivered a host of activities enabling people to learn about, enjoy and help to conserve our precious marine environment