The North West Wildlife Trust's Irish Sea Project

The North West Wildlife Trusts - Cheshire, North Merseyside/Manchester and Lancashire , and Cumbria are working together to get better protection for the fabulous wealth of wildlife in the Irish sea.

This project works in partnership with all the counties, countries and principals who have Irish sea coastlines to :-

Gather information about our local species and habitats. Those amazing sand and mud dwelling creatures such as the sea mouse, burrowing heart urchin and those fast swimming natives that live above them in the murky waters such as the common cuttlefish and the massive basking shark (the worlds second largest fish after the whale shark).

Work with other Irish sea stakeholders to maximise the protection given to our marine habitats through the newly passed Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009.

To teach and enthuse local people about the thousands of local species living beneath the waves of our local beaches and to provide the tools for people to speak up for their local wildlife.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust is delighted that the Marine and Coastal Access Bill has achieved royal assent and will be passed into law.

The Marine and Coastal Access Act is a great watershed moment in UK marine conservation history. It will provide the legislative framework to protect the wealth of fabulous marine wildlife in the Irish sea of cheshire and the Wirral through the designation of Marine Conservation Zones.

Through the implementation of the Marine and Coastal Access Act we hope to achieve our vision for Living Seas for Liverpool bay – in which wildlife thrives from the depths of the oceans to the coastal shallows – for the Irish Sea, this will include our native species such as the cuttlefish, sea heart urchin and sea mouse and the highly productive Irish sea habitats that provide the food and shelter for our marine locals.

The Wildlife Trusts have campaigned hard for this legislation over the last decade.This is however, when the job begins. We look forward to the work ahead, building partnerships to bring marine conservation zones and their management for our local wildlife to fruition.

To find out more about the Wildlife Trusts Marine conservation work visit the Our Living Seas and Save our Seas websites.

To keep up to date on volunteering in the Irish sea find us on facebook: Wildlife Trust Irish sea volunteers