Over 12,000 square km of species rich sandbank, an area almost double the size of Devon, has today become Britain’s latest marine protected area to safeguard important sea life and habitats.

The Dogger Bank is in the middle of the North Sea and crosses the offshore waters of the UK, the Netherlands and Germany. The UK section has been submitted by the Government to the European Commission and now has candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC) status.

It will be the largest European Marine Site to be submitted by any Member State for protection and links up with the existing sites in Germany and the Netherlands.

Natural Environment Minister, Richard Benyon, said:

“The thousands of species and habitats in our seas need just the same protection as those on land. The Dogger Bank is home to a fantastic array of sea life and habitats and thoroughly deserves special protection.

“This marks a major step towards achieving our commitment to create an ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas.”

Candidate SAC status means that the site must be protected from damaging activities to ensure its features are conserved.

A public consultation by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) has also begun on three more proposed SACs; the Wight-Barfleur Reef in the English Channel and the Pisces Reef Complex and Croker Carbonate Slabs in the Irish Sea; and a further consultation by Natural England on a reef site at Studland to Portland commences today.

Work is also progressing on Marine Conservation Zones, with the four regional MCZ projects in the process of submitting their recommendations to Natural England and JNCC and the independent Science Advisory Panel for review.

From today there are 95 SACs for marine habitats and species around the UK. The Government has submitted the Dogger Bank to the European Commission to be included within the European ‘Natura 2000’ network of protected areas. The site is now a candidate Special Area of Conservation. It will also contribute towards the OSPAR network of Marine Protected Areas in the North East Atlantic Ocean area.

Click here for further information on the Dogger Bank and the public consultation on the three other proposed SACs.