Wednesday 8 May is World Ocean Day, an opportunity to celebrate and take action for our oceans which cover more than 70% of the Earth’s surface. As the largest ecosystem on our planet, it functions as a life support system for all of its inhabitants.
The theme of World Ocean Day for 2022 is ‘Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean’. To mark this, we’re highlighting the important activities taking place across Brighton & Hove and the wider Sussex region to keep our seas, oceans and beaches clean and safe for everyone to enjoy.
A substantial amount of work is already underway to reduce plastics and take them out of the waste system including investigating the collection of additional plastics including low-grade plastics like food pots, tubs, and trays. We recently launched 6 water fountains across the city centre to minimise use of single-use plastic water bottles.
The council has developed an A-Z of items that can be recycled and recently launched a Circular Economy Champions scheme where the public helps educate on reuse, repair and recycling. Over 30 tonnes of older electrical plastic items have been saved from going to landfill with the opening of the Revaluit store on North Street.
Kelp, a type of seaweed that forms dense underwater ecosystems known as 'kelp forests', helps to combat climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Along the Sussex coastline kelp was historically abundant, but since 1987 over 96% of the area’s kelp has been destroyed due to destructive trawling and other human pressures.
The Sussex Kelp Restoration Project was established to restore almost 200 square kilometres of lost kelp forest along the coast of Sussex. In March 2021, after successful campaigning from the Help Our Kelp partnership, the Sussex Nearshore Trawling Byelaw was confirmed, stopping trawling on the nearshore seabed off the Sussex coast.
Launched in 2018, the Sussex Dolphin Project was established to protect local dolphin species along the Sussex coastline. As a project of the World Cetacean Alliance (WCA), it aims to protect dolphins through research, awareness and education.
The Sussex Dolphin Project works with local organisations and individuals to create a network that documents sightings and collects images to identify individual dolphins. The group also runs activities to encourage marine conservation activities throughout Sussex.
The Living Coast is a collective of more than 40 organisations led and hosted by Brighton & Hove City Council. It is the UK’s only UNESCO-designated urban biosphere reserve and stretches from Newhaven to Shoreham-by-Sea, extending two nautical miles out to sea.
The Living Coast’s projects cover nature conservation, sustainable development and tourism, and environmental awareness.
Through The Living Coast, the council supported an environmental education and art project which created sculptures on the Undercliff path to celebrate the local marine conservation zone.
The Living Coast Undersea Experience enables people to explore what’s under the sea through virtual reality, opening up one of the rarest habitats that very few people get to experience and highlighting the importance of conservation.
Leave No Trace is a group of local beach lovers who are raising awareness and action to protect our beaches. Over the past 12 months, Leave No Trace Brighton have collected more than 636kg of rubbish left on the seafront throughout Brighton & Hove – two thirds of which is plastic waste. The council has supported the organisation by funding collection receptacles for fishing nets collected from the beach which are then recycled.
Surfers Against Sewage is another charity dedicated to the protection of the ocean, beaches and wildlife. Part of their work involves campaigning to eliminate plastic pollution choking our seas. Surfers Against Sewage Brighton organise beach clean events and work with schools to encourage them to be plastic free.
Jamie Lloyd, lead councillor for biodiversity, said: “It is more important than ever that we take care of our coastal environment and restore the oceans from the devastating effects of pollution.
“The seafront is an integral part of Brighton & Hove and helps draw millions of visitors to the city each year.
“It is vital that we protect and preserve the nature and wildlife on our coast. We can all do small things that collectively will make a difference – making sure we put litter in bins or take it home, reducing our use of plastic, being part of beach cleans, going to local events to learn about biodiversity and volunteering to look after nature in the city.
“It’s particularly fitting that this year’s World Ocean Day centres around the theme of collective action. There is crucial work taking place across Brighton & Hove and we will continue to work together to prevent further damage being done to our natural ecosystems.”
