Half-million for Sussex coast project

A boost for the English Channel coast has come with news that the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded a £528,600 grant to  Sussex Wildlife Trust for its Wild Coast Sussex Project.

The initiative is intended to inspire the county’s communities to care for the marine environment, said project manager Nikki Hills from the trust.

“Our partnership champions the rare and precious marine wildlife found locally, highlighting the extraordinary underwater kelp forests, seahorses and rays once abundant in Sussex, which could recover and thrive if local communities know about them, understand the threats and support their conservation.”

Hills said that the trust would work with primary schools, 12-25-year-olds and commercial fishermen as well as the wider community to “take them on a journey to make a positive difference to the crisis in the health of the sea.”

Sussex Wildlife Trust is lead partner in the project with the Marine Conservation Society, Sussex Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority and Sea Life Brighton. It is intended to cover the whole Sussex coast but with particular focus on Hastings, Bexhill, Eastbourne, Brighton, Worthing and Selsey.

Project activities are set to include ghost-gear removal and recycling, a Wild Beach education programme for children, citizen-science surveys, beach-cleans, volunteer training and projects involving young adults, with more information available here.