The Marine Conservation Zone Project

The Marine Conservation Zone Project is being led by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Natural England to identify and recommend Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) to Government.

The MCZ Project was set up in 2009 and consisted of four regional MCZ projects covering the south-west (Finding Sanctuary), Irish Sea (Irish Sea Conservation Zones), North Sea (Net Gain) and south-east (Balanced Seas). These regional projects have spent the last two years working with sea users and interest groups to identify MCZs within their regions and have now submitted their recommendations to JNCC (see map), Natural England and the Science Advisory Panel. The reports containing these recommendations are now available to download from the regional project websites and can be viewed on the MCZ Interactive map.

For the latest information on the MCZ Project, you can read our recent newsletter and sign up to receive future editions.

If you are a national or international stakeholder and would like to find out more about the Marine Conservation Zone Project in the context of the other Marine Protected Area work that is going on in the UK then please get in touch with our JNCC MCZ Project team who will be happy to speak to you.