09.05.08 Environment Agency unveils Dymchurch flood defences The first part of a £60 million sea defence project that will protect nearly two and a half thousand homes in Kent will be officially opened today (Friday 9 May 2008) by the Rt Hon Michael Howard QC MP. This phase of a flagship flood protection scheme in Dymchurch, Kent was originally due to be finished in the summer but work has been completed ahead of schedule.

02.05.08 Shell pulls out of London Array Shell was accused last night of being greedy and irresponsible as it came under ferocious attack from politicians and environmentalists for its decision to drop a commitment to the biggest offshore wind farm in the world. Although the environment minister Hilary Benn called the decision to withdraw from the London Array scheme off the Kent coast "very disappointing", the government was also under attack from opponents who saw the move as a body-blow to UK renewable energy policies.

24.04.08 Spring 2008 issue of Fishing Focus published This is a joint publication from Defra and the Marine and Fisheries Agency (MFA) and aims to improve communications with stakeholders. The main feature of this issue is the draft Marine Bill.

14.04.08 Study warns of wildlife 'losers' Wildlife will increasingly be divided into winners and losers as the impact of climate change is felt along the UK coast, the National Trust has warned. The habitats of numerous plants and animals will be damaged by rising sea levels, coastal erosion and flooding. But warmer temperatures will be good news for some.

10.04.08 UK beaches 'blighted by plastic' Britain's beaches are being blighted by more plastic rubbish than ever before, a new survey has found. The Marine Conservation Society's Beachwatch survey used 4,000 volunteers to look for rubbish on more than 350 beaches across the UK last September. The results show more than 300,000 items of litter were collected.

07.04.08 Rare seahorses breeding in Thames Colonies of rare seahorses are living and breeding in the River Thames, conservationists have revealed. The short-snouted variety are endangered and normally live around the Canary Islands and Italy. Experts at London Zoo said the species had been found at Dagenham in east London and Tilbury and Southend in Essex, over the last 18 months.

07.04.08 Draft Marine Bill covered in Defra newsletter Issue 7 of the Marine Bill newsletter is now available. The draft Marine Bill was published on 3rd April and there will now be a three month period of consultation. The newsletter provides a summary of what the draft contains, but the full document is available from Defra.

04.04.08 Boost for deprived seaside resort A multi-million pound regeneration grant from the government has been announced for a coastal town in Kent. Up to £4m will be invested in Dover for cultural and heritage projects by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE). It is one of three towns - along with Blackpool, Lancashire and Torbay, Devon - to benefit from Sea Change, a new fund for deprived coastal towns.

03.04.08 Hilary Benn at Whitstable Harbour to launch draft Marine Bill The draft Marine Bill published today sets out radical plans for a new network of marine conservation zones around Britain’s coast. Environment Secretary Hilary Benn and Marine and Fisheries Minister, Jonathan Shaw were at Whitstable Harbour in Kent this morning, to publicise the launch and take a boat trip out to the Kentish Flats wind farm.

03.04.08 Artificial reefs scoping study published Multi-functional artificial reefs offer an opportunity for coastal defence structures to deliver ecological and amenity benefits, and in doing so, support drivers for sustainable development. This is the finding of a new scoping study by CIRIA that focuses on artificial reef structures used for coastal defence.

25.03.08 RSPB challenges government to protect our seabirds A report published by the RSPB highlights the urgent need for more work to be done to ensure the increased protection of the UK's marine environment, especially for seabirds, and lays down a challenge to Government to address this issue urgently. The report – Safeguarding our Seabirds: Marine Protected Areas for the UK's Seabirds - states that although the government says it is committed to marine protection, less than one square mile in every 100,000 square miles of sea area has so far been fully protected from all damaging activities.

17.03.08 £421,500 for the Thames Discovery Programme Thames Estuary Partnership have been awarded full funding by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) with £421,500 for the Thames Discovery Programme (TDP), a three year project to investigate the longest archaeological site in London before it is literally washed away by the tide.

14.03.08 SeaFrance strike ends on day 17 The strike by officers on SeaFrance cross-Channel ferries ended on Friday afternoon - after 17 days of widespread traffic misery in Kent. The strike, which began on February 27, was settled with the French officers receiving a pay award of less than £1,000 a year each. Operation Stack, which sees coastbound sections of the M20 used as a stacking area for hundreds - sometimes thousands - of lorries, has been implemented every day since February 28.

12.03.08 Thousands of dead starfish at Pegwell Bay Thousands of starfish have been found washed up dead on a beach in Kent. A carpet of the dead creatures covered hundreds of yards of the beach at Pegwell Bay near Sandwich. The Environment Agency is investigating the incident but said it was not connected with the recent storms, pollution or climate change.

06.03.08 Coastguard staff stage pay strike Coastguard staff are staging the first strike in their history. The Public and Commercial Services union said up to 700 employees at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) would walk out for 24 hours. MCA centres on the Thames and at Dover will be among those involved in the strike.

25.02.08 Funding success for North Kent Marshes The vision of an acclaimed visitor destination on the wildlife-rich North Kent Marshes has moved a huge step closer after the RSPB announced it has secured more than £1.7 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) with help from the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA). SEEDA has been helping the RSPB get the project off the ground during the past year and is funding a full time Project Manager for three years to develop the RSPB's plans for the site, seek further funding and undertake initial site investigations and studies.

18.02.08 Huge study gives wake-up call on state of world's oceans A huge study has mapped the total human impact on the seas for the first time. Scientists found that almost no areas have been left pristine and more than 40% of the world's oceans have been heavily affected. Human impact is most severe in the North Sea, the South and East China Seas, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Gulf, the Bering Sea, along the eastern coast of North America and in much of the western Pacific.

14.02.08 Thames tunnel proposal under fire A multi-billion pound plan to build a tunnel under the River Thames that will cut through mudflats and marshes has been criticised by the RSPB. Metrotidal Ltd, which is heading an engineering consortium, announced plans on Tuesday for a £2bn to £4bn crossing between Medway and Canvey Island. The RSPB said the construction of the tunnel could cause irreparable damage to North Kent Marshes.

13.02.08 Guardian headlines on emissions from shipping The true scale of climate change emissions from shipping is almost three times higher than previously believed, according to a leaked UN study seen by the Guardian news paper. It calculates that annual emissions from the world's merchant fleet have already reached 1.12bn tonnes of CO2;, or nearly 4.5% of all global emissions of the main greenhouse gas.

12.02.08 RSPB says Heathrow-on-Sea should be sunk London mayoral candidate, Boris Johnson, has said in the Sunday Times that the Thames Estuary was a potential site for a new London airport. In the same article, Sir Peter Hall of the Town and Country Planning Association claimed the estuary was ideal because there would be no constraints on development. But the Thames Estuary, including the RSPB’s Cliffe Pools reserve in Kent, is one of Europe’s most important sites for wild birds and for that reason, is protected by European and UK law.