February 2015

There has never been a time more urgent in the conservation of Studland Bay; yet another year has gone by and the seahorses have all but disappeared and now the tragic news by the government that the site has been dropped from this tranche of the Marine Conservation Zone process. We have to fight and get this decision reversed and we will do everything in our power to get this done, so please support us through GoFundMe and please sign our petition on our Facebook page. Thank you on behalf of the seahorses who only have us as their voice.

http://www.gofundme.com/l9e7js?fb_action_ids=10152651197086186&fb_action_types=og.shares&fb_ref=fb_cr_n

Studland Bay in Dorset is the most important sites for Spiny Seahorses in the UK and yet it has been dropped from the Marine Conservation Zone process for the second time, depsite the seahorses being threatened on the site and their numbers dropping from 40 in 2008 to 1 in 2014. Even though they are legally protected !!
The Spiny Seahorses at Studland are under threat from the loss of their home, the seagrass bed because of unmanaged yachts and boats dropping anchors on the site destroying the seagrass and because of illegal moorings being put into the seagrass. The very seagrass that is home not only to the Spiny Seahorses but also a myriad of other rare and endangered species. It also helps to defend the beach and clifss by diffusing wave action, something that will cost the council millions to do if it were not there. The beach is already losing its sands and the cliffs had a number of rock falls last winter.
We have aksed for Environmentally friendly Moorings to be installed so the boats can still visit the area and the seagrass will be protected but DEFRA has dropped the formation of the MCZ because a small handful of yacht owners made an objection, even though they have no scientific evidnce to support their views, depsite the fact the seahorses (and the seagrass because of the seahorses) are legally protected. We want to raise £5,000 to fight this unjust decision and to get the bay back onto the proposed Marine Conservation Zone list. Please donate to the cause so we can lobby government and all the relevant authorities. This urgent we do not have long to achieve this, so please dig deep to help us to help them. Thank you

After pressure from a very small handful of yacht owners, DEFRA has capitulated and dropped Studland Bay from becoming a Marine Conservation Zone in this tranche of the process. This could not come at the worst time when the seahorses have dropped from 40 animals in 2008 to 1 in 2014 and the seagrass is fragmenting to a point where the sand on the beach is disappearing and the cliffs are starting to crumble.

Seagrass is natures defense against this type of erosion and as the seagrass deteriorates it will mean the council and government will have to spend tens of millions of pounds to build ugly sea defenses, ruining this area of beauty and why? because a small handful of yacht owners might have to pay to moor up to environmentally friendly moorings rather than drop their anchors into the seagrass and rip it apart. These sea defenses would not be needed if the seagrass which is natures natural defense system is protected and allowed to do its job for free.

These few yacht vocal owners, unlike the vast majority of responsible yacht owners, do not care about the environment and base their arguments on spurious claims which have no basis in science and yet The Seahorse Trust and Southampton Universities National Oceanography Centre have studied this site for years and through peer-reviewed research have proven that the site is degrading and the seahorses have disappeared

Where has all the sand gone. This picture was taken this winter only a few weeks ago by Kim Maidment and it shows the black line on the gabions where the sand used to be but it is now gione and bits of the surrounding cliff are dropping as they did last winter and why, because the seagrass is fragmenting and there is nothing to diffuse wave action to stop this from happening.

Please sign the petition below to get DEFRA to reverse the decision and to ask them not to put shaky economic arguments in front of their legally binding obligation to protect the seahorses and the seagrass.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/208/992/778/reverse-the-decision-on-the-studland-bay-mcz/#sign