Upcoming meetings with recreational boaters as part of the LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES project

CEP is looking for participants from the recreational boating community to take part in upcoming Zoom meetings as part of the LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES project

CEP is seeking a range of recreational boaters to take part in meetings on boating practices and sea grass as part of the LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES project led by Natural England in partnership with RYA, the Green Blue, Ocean Conservation Trust, Marine Conservation Society, Tamar Estuaries Consultative Forum and Plymouth City Council.

The meetings will be held by Zoom videoconferencing on Friday 25 September at 6.30pm for boaters in the Plymouth Sound and Estuaries area and Tuesday 6 October at 6.30pm for boaters in the Solent / Isle of Wight area.

CEP has been commissioned by the LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES project to run the meetings as part of a strand of work to understand and improve recreational boater practices and behaviours affecting seagrass. The information from the meetings with the recreational boater community and from a survey to be conducted soon after, will be used to identify and design approaches to improving the impact of recreational boating on seagrass.

We are really keen to involve as wide a range of recreational boaters as possible, so if you are able to help us to publicise the meetings and survey and encourage boaters to participate please do.

If you yourself are a recreational boater who boats in either the Solent Maritime / Isle of Wight or the Plymouth Sound and Estuaries areas, and own or crew on yachts or power boats then we are very interested in hearing from you. The meetings will be a great opportunity for local boaters to help shape action to protect seagrass in the areas they know well and to get involved in an exciting project that will have a range of benefits, both for boaters and the marine environment.

The meetings are voluntary, and your opinions and experiences will be very valuable.  All discussions will be anonymised and follow our GDPR and ethics protocol.

Please CLICK HERE to sign up.

The LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES project is working to improve the condition of four marine habitats of European importance. The project is led by Natural England in partnership with RYA, the Green Blue, Ocean Conservation Trust, Marine Conservation Society, Tamar Estuaries Consultative Forum and Plymouth City Council.  The project has commissioned independent research consultancy Collingwood Environmental Planning (CEP) to run the meetings as part of a strand of work to understand and improve boater practices and behaviours affecting seagrass.

If you have any queries about this survey, please contact Paula Orr (Technical Director)

CEP developing baseline social information for Marine Management Organisation

CEP is contributing to research led by ICF to provide baseline social information for the Marine Management Organisation

ICF, CEP and ABPmer were contracted by Marine Management Organisation (MMO) to undertake a study to support social baseline assessments for marine plans.

After an initial identification and prioritisation of social evidence needs, three research topics were agreed with MMO.   CEP is leading on two research topics: Seascape quality, value and links to sense of place; and Health and wellbeing benefits of coastal recreation and barriers to access.  Research on a third priority topic (Socio-economic deprivation in coastal communities) is being led by ICF.  CEP’s research involves literature review, focus groups, interviews and analysis.   For the Seascapes research, ABPmer developed a tailored-made online survey and map to gather the views of local residents about the coastal places that are special for them. 

The research topics will be published as separate reports later this year on the MMO’s website

For more information please contact CEP’s Paula Orr (Technical Director) or Sian Morse-Jones (Principal Consultant) for more information.