World Oceans Day: Marine reserves to be created in England

The government has announced plans to create special areas in England's seas, where any activity that could harm wildlife or animal habitats would be banned.

It means activities such as fishing and dredging couldn't take place in these "highly protected marine areas", but only in selected sites.

The department responsible for the environment - known as Defra - said it would be a pilot project to see how well it worked, before making it permanent.

Government agencies Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee will look at possible sites this year, with plans to decide on the areas to be protected in 2022.

These could be in or outside of existing marine protected areas (MPAs).

It comes after an independent review recommended identifying sites in English waters where all dredging, fishing, releasing sewage and anchoring would be banned.

A survey from Defra and the Ocean Conservation Trust also found that more than 8,400 people in England and Wales supported looking after the seas, with 85% saying marine protection was personally important to them.

But the plans are likely to cause concerns for other sea users such as fishermen.

The government said it would work closely with them, and consider the potential social, economic and environmental impacts of the sites.

Conservationists at the Wildlife Trust said the idea was a fantastic step forward for "rewilding parts of the sea", helping them become healthier and allow degraded underwater habitats to recover.

Greenpeace said the reserves would be vital, but is also calling for damaging bottom trawl fishing to be banned across existing marine protected areas to stop the damage to the seabed and the release of carbon stored there.

It said the government should "level up every offshore protected area around the country, with an urgency that reflects the climate and nature crisis facing us".

Environment Secretary George Eustice said the UK was leading the way internationally to deliver healthy and sustainable seas.

"We must strike a balance in supporting sustainable industries while increasing protections for our seas to ensure a healthy, resilient and diverse marine ecosystem and we will work with others as we develop future protections," he said.

To mark World Oceans Day, the government also highlighted that 80 countries are now signed up to an international target to protect at least 30% of the world's oceans by 2030, in an project co-led by the UK.