Coastwise North Devon has been awarded two prestigious awards by the North Devon Conservation Society for work on coastal education, conservation, research and campaigning for the marine environment: The President's Shield, and the North Devon AONB Coastal Award for the Natural Environment.
We have a programme of beach visits to make the most of the summer and update our beach surveys (to see them, click on the beach profiles page in the menu for a summary and downloadable PDF files). There's a wide range of venues, and timing is arranged around low tide. Come along and discover new beaches and wildlife !
Lee WI cares about their beach and regularly clears it of litter. When members decided they wanted to know more about the shore and the wildlife that lived there, Coastwise was happy to offer a guided tour to the geology and shore life, particularly as the chosen date was 8 June, World Oceans Day.
Geologist Paul Madgett and marine enthusiast Paula Ferris, ably assisted by Marjorie Heath and Dawn Murphy, explored the bay in the company of a dozen WI members, before adjourning to the Grampus for lunch.
It took just 2 hours for 26 volunteers (click here for picture) to collect 50 sacks of rubbish on Downend Beach, Croyde in Coastwise North Devon’s annual beach clean.
The MMO has just issued a "brochure" (Click Here to download in PDF form) which describes its role and objectives. These include acting as the marine planning authority, setting fisheries policy, creating conservation areas and enforcement of the marine space as appropriate. This could be very good news, but there are important questions relating to the MMO's accountability and its responsiveness to public opinion and needs, and its ability to carry out its remit with the staffing available.
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