Marine Conservation

Yorkshire’s marine environment is hugely diverse. The coastline stretches 152km and our ‘territorial’ limit extends 22.2km out to sea (12nm).

Our sea and shoreline are home to wildlife of national and European importance, including edible crabs and European lobster, minke whales and harbour porpoise and a mosaic of different habitats such as chalk reefs, kelp forests, gravelly seabeds and rocky shores. Yorkshire’s coast and sea also host thousands of seabirds each year who migrate long distances to breed and rear their young.

For over a decade Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has worked to conserve our marine wildlife and habitats, with the aim of contributing to achieving The Wildlife Trust’s national vision for our seas. Our vision is for:

Marine wildlife to recover from past decline as our use of the seas’ resources become environmentally sustainable

The natural environment to adapt well to a changing climate, and ocean processes help to slow down climate change

People to be inspired by marine wildlife and value the sea for the many ways in which it supports our quality of life