Cornwall Wildlife Trust wants your say on the future of our seas

Cornwall’s relationship with the sea runs through everything, from the boats working out of Newlyn to the walkers on the coast path and the seals hauled out on the rocks below them. Now the people trying to protect that stretch of water want to know what you think it should look like in twenty years’ time.

Cornwall Wildlife Trust is asking residents to share their thoughts, experiences and hopes for the sea as part of a new long-term plan for marine recovery along England’s south coast. The Trust says Cornwall’s waters are at the heart of local identity, tying together wildlife and wild places, fishing, recreation and the coastal communities that depend on all of it.

A joined-up plan across five counties

The work is being led by five Wildlife Trusts covering the south coast: Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and Isle of Wight, and Sussex, supported by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. Rather than each county working alone, the South Coast Marine Recovery Project treats the whole coastline as one connected seascape.

The aim is to ease the pressures harming the marine environment and to bring people into the effort to restore it. The Trusts want to co-design practical solutions alongside regulators, the fishing industry, local authorities and coastal communities, so the plan reflects the people who live and work by the water rather than being handed down to them.

Why the sea needs help

The picture the project paints of the south coast is one of quiet, striking loss. Since 1980, the UK has lost nearly 40% of its seagrass, the underwater meadows where seahorses shelter and where carbon is locked away. In Sussex, 96% of kelp forests disappeared before a recent recovery project began bringing them back.

Protected areas are not faring much better. Only 15% of Marine Protected Areas are thought to be in favourable condition, and 58% have at least one designated feature thought to be in unfavourable or declining condition. These are stretches of sea that are supposed to be safeguarded, home to waders on the saltmarshes and cuttlefish drifting through the kelp.

How to get involved

The Trust has put together an anonymous questionnaire for anyone who wants a say in how the plan takes shape. Fill it in, add your contact details, and you can opt into a prize draw for a £100 gift voucher. The questionnaire closes in October 2026.

For those who want to hear more first, there are two interactive online sessions where you can learn about the project, ask questions and share your views. They run on Thursday 6 August at 7pm and Wednesday 26 August at 7pm, with registration through the project page.

What happens next

The project is in its development phase, running from January 2026 to March 2027, when the Trusts and their partners work out a shared vision for the coast. After that comes a delivery phase lasting several years, turning the plan into action on the water.

Cornwall Wildlife Trust says the feedback gathered now will help shape the future of marine recovery along the whole of England’s south coast. Whether that future takes hold depends, in part, on how many people answer the call before the questionnaire closes.