December 2012

Dear all,

We would like to wish you all a Happy and Merry Christmas and a fantastic 2013 from everyone here at the trust.

2012 has been a great year with so much work done here at the trust but 2013 is going to be even busier with a lot more things to do and so many more projects to work on; none of this would have been possible without your support and help, so thank you to you all.

The Seahorse Trust is quite a small trust in the world but we achieve so much because we have great supporters and volunteers, all of whom have so much enthusiasm and drive and keep us going.

Being a small charity we are totally reliant on the kindness of others to keep going so adoptions and memberships are vital to allow us to generate funds and importantly to let people know what we are doing. They make great presents and please don’t forget to Gift aid them.

If you are planning any events for 2013 in aid of the trust you can do this securely through one of the donation sites listed on our website.

The supporters of the trust act as ambassadors for the work and without you going out there spreading the word, the problems facing seahorses would not be known about, so thank you for this.

However we do need funds to do our work so if you have any fund raising drives, events, donations or schemes to help us plan our future work, then please let us know.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL AND HAVE A PEACEFUL 2013

The government have just released their proposal for the first release of Marine Conservation Zones for 2013 and to their shame they have left of, one of the most important and threatened areas for Spiny Seahorses in the UK and possibly Europe, Studland Bay. The bay has been put forward as a proposed MPZ at some later stage but not in the first tranché, which means it could be years before it gets protected; meanwhile the seagrass bed has been proven (without doubt) to be fragmenting as has been shown by the recent report by MAIA and by Dr Ken Collins paper released a couple of years ago. yet the authorities sit back and let this vital site for Spiny Seahorses be destroyed.  Without the seagrass at Studland there will be no spiny Seahorses there, they rely on this vitally important habitat.

In 2008 we found over 50 seahorses and each year since the number has been dropping rapidly to this year where we only found 11.

We need your help please, go onto the website below and lobby them to include studland into the first tranché of MPZ’s for 2013 before it is too late. Meanwhile we will be resubmitting our data (for the third time) to try and get them to change their minds.If there is a site in the UK that should qualify first and foremost for protection it is Studland Bay. Not only does it have the seahorses (both species), it also has the fragile seagrass, English Oysters, Undulate Rays, truncated anenomes and a host of other threatened and endangered species.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/consult/2012/12/13/marine-conservation-zones-1212/

Make you voice heard and let them know how you feel, before the seahorses are gone from Studland forever; it is not too late, we have until march 2013 to get them to change their minds.