 web.jpg "Ballan wrasse (Credit Ian Pilling)")
Ballan wrasse (Credit Ian Pilling)
Colourful creatures abound on the chalk and sandstone reefs off Dover and Folkestone.
Lying between Dover and Folkestone is a surprising diversity of seabed structure which mirrors the geology on land.
Below the white cliffs is an important stretch of marine chalk reefs, interrupted by the Samphire Hoe platform which contains the spoil from the Channel Tunnel. Heading towards Folkestone both on the shore and out to sea, the chalk gives way to soft grey clay and then to the lower greensand that can be seen at Copt Point. Twin-shelled molluscs called piddocks live in the holes they bore in the soft chalk and clay here.
Harder rock is rare in the South-East, and the rugged outcropping ridges of Folkestone’s sandstone support many fragile branching sponges, alongside soft corals, fan worms and anemones. Crevices in the rock harbour crustaceans, fish, and even cuttlefish, while the edges are adorned with light-bulb sea squirts or bottlebrush bryozoans.
This recommended Marine Conservation Zone is ON HOLD at the moment as Defra has indicated that there is not enough evidence to support designation.
We need you to urge Defra to use the additional data gathered as soon as possible to consider designation of this site as an urgent priority:
Defra has indicated that although there is enough evidence to support the designation of seven of the habitats or species recommended for protection by stakeholders, a further eight are deemed to need additional evidence before Defra will consider their protection. Therefore this site is on hold at the moment pending additional information.
However, the area has been the subject of extensive survey in recent years, including a detailed intertidal survey by Kent Wildlife Trust, and multibeam sonar and backscatter data by Channel Coastal Observatory (CCO), ground-truthed with Kent WT’s Seasearch data to produce a detailed habitat map covering the whole rMCZ. These surveys provide sufficient evidence for Natural England to now give two more of the features high confidence in their presence and extent (in their amendments report). The CCO habitat map provides evidence of the presence and extent of four more of the features, and Kent Wildlife Trust has Seasearch data backed up by photographs and video footage as evidence of the presence of subtidal chalk, rossworm reef, subtidal coarse sediment, and moderate energy infralittoral rock. This video can be viewed on this page.
Defra also commissioned additional survey work for this site in 2012. This data has not been taken into account in this consultation. Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee have indicated that this site is at high risk of damage or degradation due to the presence of vulnerable habitats or species within the site. However, they have indicated that these high risk features are not currently exposed to pressures so Defra has determined that this site should remain on hold whilst additional data is gathered. However, displacement activity from the designation of other sites may lead to increased pressure in this site.
We need you to urge Defra to accept the revised assessment of evidence adequacy from Natural England, and to use Kent Wildlife Trust’s data and Defra’s own data as soon as possible and to consider this site as a high and urgent priority for designation in the next tranche. The site should be protected from additional damage and degradation in the meantime.
Dive video of this site
Contains UKHO Law of the Sea data. Crown copyright and database right and contains Ordnance Survey Data Crown copyright and database 2012
Other nearby MCZs
Downloads
| Filename | File size |
|---|---|
| Dover to Folkestone Reefs.pdf | 201.14 KB |