The Green Blue is the joint environment initiative created by the British Marine Federation(BMF) and Royal Yachting Association(RYA) for anyone whose livlihoods depends on the oceans or for anyone who loves to be out, on or in the water. Boat users, boating businesses, sailing clubs and training centres are given information and help to reduce their impact on coastal and inland waters.

The Green Blue projects aims are to raises awareness, conduct scientific research, identify environmentally friendly products and offer the best practice advice to anyone keeen to make boating in the UK as sustainable as possible. The project will cover a wide variety of topics from waste management, fuel efficiency and marine paints to effects on wildlife and efficiency resources on board boats.

Projects withing the Green Blue programme are taking place across the country and are already making a difference to the nations surrounding seas. For full information on the Green Blue project visit http://www.thegreenblue.org.uk/

The RYA have come out in defence of the yacht owners, by stating that they are ‘normally very pro-environmental’.

None-the-less Natural England have organised for an area to be cordoned off with buoys to protect the threatened species.

This ‘anchor-free’ zone will be voluntary, but policed by wardens.  The boat owners however, are concerned, that should they be caught in the wrong place, at the wrong time their boat details will be published on the internet.  Natural England have denied that this is the case and explained that the wardens are only there to monitor the situation and they are confident that the cordon will be respected.

The Seahorse Trust has recently begun tagging seahorses in an effort to track and monitor their existence.  Currently there are believed to be 40 in Studland Bay.

Last year, seahorses were registered as a protected species for the first time.  Steve Trewhella of the Seahorse Trust, welcomed the study and said a ban on anchoring was just what was needed.