Recruiting champions for North Devon’s coast and sea cont.
Recruiting champions for North Devon’s coast and sea cont.
The Coastwise group has been developed by enthusiasts on previous sessions of the Our Coast course who want to take a more active role in promoting and caring for our marine environment.
In a recent inspirational talk, Croyde-based marine biologist Bill Foster challenged the group by contrasting the lack of marine conservation in the UK with that in Australia and New Zealand where dozens of marine protected areas have been created in the period since the first UK marine nature reserve was created in North Devon at Lundy in 1986. It remains the only reserve in England.
Where North Devon once took a lead it could again. North Devon Coastwise has been set up as one of the first such groups in the country to provide a community focus for marine issues as they affect the coast. Coastwise’s role is to look, learn, ask questions and provide feedback. The potential to influence how we care for a precious environment at a time of growing pressure is significant, and the initiative is timely – just as government starts to roll out the country’s first marine policy.
Paula Ferris, Coastwise Chairperson says “To play our role properly, we need to understand more about the coast and the part it plays in our lives. The course provides one way, getting involved with the wildlife comes next, addressing the issues and grasping opportunities to influence events, such as the Government’s Marine Bill, the ultimate aim. Having fun is the bonus. Coastwise covers all these and more.”
Already Coastwise has participated in responses to the government’s latest consultation on the forthcoming Marine Bill, both directly and through participation in the expert group advising North Devon’s Biosphere Reserve on its response. Now registered with Defra as a marine stakeholder Coastwise will be invited to comment on future policy proposals.
On Your Knees to Monitor
A wet and windy summer weekend did not deter 20 local members from getting down on their knees to monitor the shores at Lee Bay and Abbotsham as part of a national study run by the Marine Life Information Network (MarLin) to collect data about the plants and animals on the shore.
Each beach is surveyed twice annually , in July and in early autumn. Coastwise will be surveying Lee Bay again on 28th September, and anyone interested in taking part should contact Pip Jollands on 01237 472135. The second Abbotsham survey will be undertaken by a local school.
Local involvement in this annual exercise is being led by marine biologist Pip Jollands from Hallsannery Field Centre, whose expertise and encouragement regularly attracts plenty of Coastwise members to spend time on their knees counting snails and sifting through seaweed.
We sample the rocky shore, and will return to the same spots each year, to record what is present. We also conduct a systematic timed search for species of particular interest, those that are alien to our shores or indicators of climate change.
Pip Jollands says “North Devon is a particularly good place to study. It has a rich shore life and the range of some southern and northern species overlap here. So our data is valuable for MarLin and the knowledge we acquire helps us look after a precious environment.”
In just one square meter there could be half a dozen different seaweeds, and even more animals. As well as the conspicuous barnacles, mussels and limpets, there may be several species of sea snail, as well as anemones, crabs and prawns and some tiny animals such as sea mat.
Mrs Jollands reports “The search for climate change indicators this time did not produce any unexpected results, but was consistent with general experience suggesting that populations of some southerly species, such as the Thick Topshell, are increasing. Wireweed was found at both Lee and Abbotsham and is an invasive seaweed from the Pacific that is becoming a familiar sight in our rock-pools where it can shade-out native plants.”
The results are forwarded to MarLin and are available on website www.marlin.ac.uk
Downend Beach Clean
60 sacks of rubbish were collected in 2 hours by 32 volunteers on Sunday 20th April at Downend, Croyde.
The rubbish was mainly fishing nets and lines, sheets of plastic, foam and polystyrene, glass bottles and lots of small items such as bottle tops, lighters, and straws. The biggest item, a ship’s hawser, required two men to drag it from the rocks. A lot was in tiny pieces which is very hazardous to birds and other animals.
Beach debris is trapped by the rocks at Downend in places mechanical beach cleaners can not reach. For the second year the Our Coast course group organized the beach clean to collect the debris left by the winter storms at the start of the summer season.
Paula Ferris who organized the event says “It was nice to see how many people come to help. Everyone worked really hard and we did very well, clearing all the debris from the first rocks right up to the point. Hopefully it will become an annual event. Meanwhile thanks to all the volunteers and Ruda Holiday Park and Downend Car Park for their support.
Much of the litter clearly came in from the sea, so the group will send a report to the Marine Conservation Society which is working to tackle the sources of the litter. "
Festival first – a shore safari
In the year that the Festival celebrates North Devon’s internationally recognised environment ( North Devon’s UNESCO Biosphere Reserve includes England’s only Marine Nature Reserve at Lundy, a Voluntary Marine Conservation Area stretching from Croyde to Combe Martin and a coast and Estuary carrying SSSI designations), the programme includes for the first time a shore safari providing an introduction to the exceptional wildlife of North Devon’s rocky shores.
Hosted by a new local group dedicated the coast, CoastWise North Devon (The CoastWise group has developed from the Millennium Award funded Our Coast course, weekly in Barnstaple Library, to continue its education remit, undertake projects, and campaign for the care of our coast.), the Shore Safari will be held at Barricane Beach, Woolacombe, on Wednesday 4th June, from 11 am to 1pm. Experts including the Devon Wildlife Trust VMCA Marine Awareness Officer and CoastWise members will lead the way.
CoastWise Co-ordinator Paula Ferris says, “Everyone is welcome. We want to encourage Festival goers to take a fresh look at the shore. The setting is beautiful and so are the beasts. There is much here for the artists and the scientists amongst us, and plenty for everyone to learn from one another.”
The wildlife of North Devon’s rocky shores is exceptionally rich. The safari will concentrate on the stretch of beach from Barricane to Combesgate, part of North Devon’s Voluntary Marine Conservation Area. Here the rocks, pools and crevices are readily accessible and there is abundant wildlife including at least six species of anemones, crabs from the size of a pea to a plateful, and flamboyant fish. If the timing is right, the extraordinary Sea Hare can be seen coming to shore to mate and lay its eggs.
Paula Ferris says “The shore is one of the few wild places we can easily visit, and enjoy the spectacle of a safari within the space of little more than a rockpool. So if you have ever wanted to know more about the way the web of life on the shore works, or simply want to marvel at the beauty of it all, this is the event for you.”