Solway Firth Marine Protected Area Expanded

The UK government yesterday announced the expansion of the Solway Firth Marine Protected Area (MPA) to protect over 125,000 seabirds.

The protected area in Solway Firth sits in both English and Scottish waters and will be expanded by 92,070 hectares, becoming a total of 135,750 hectares.

The expansion provides clarity on where boundaries of important foraging areas for protected seabird species are and offers the opportunity to adopt additional management measures if required.

Environment Secretary George Eustice also recently announced his intention to pilot Highly Protected Marine Areas where all extractive and destructive activities would be removed.