South West Marine Fest Conference 2026 - DAY 2

We invite you to join us for Day 2 of our annual Summer Conference, hosted by Conservation Chat UK Ltd.

As specialists in organising environmentally focused events, we’re dedicated to creating gatherings that place the natural world at the forefront, with a special focus on our local region, the Southwest of England.​

This event will feature an inspiring lineup of guest speakers involved in species conservation. If you share our passion for the environment, don’t miss this opportunity! The day will be packed with insightful presentations, engaging discussions, and valuable networking, tailored for conservation professionals, students, early-career researchers, and anyone passionate about the natural world.​

Light refreshments will be provided. To keep ticket costs affordable, we ask attendees to bring a packed lunch, and challenge you to make it plastic-free!

This will be an in-person event only, with a full refund policy in place if the event must be cancelled due to COVID-19.

Info: Marine non-licensable activities (mNLA) — including recreational boating, paddle sports, diving and wildlife watching — are increasing across England’s inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). While individually small-scale, their cumulative impacts can hinder conservation objectives, particularly for sensitive habitats and species.

The Marine Management Organisation has launched a national, evidence-led and adaptive programme to assess and manage these pressures across 97 MPAs, supporting Environmental Improvement Plan targets. The work combines site assessments, stakeholder collaboration and targeted action on habitats and wildlife disturbance, using measures from voluntary guidance to byelaws.

The programme will deliver a national Decision Document and Monitoring Plan by 2030, establishing the first integrated framework to manage public marine activities sustainably within MPAs.

Info: The bottlenose dolphins of England’s south coast are among the most vulnerable in Europe. These remarkable animals are part of a small, socially distinct population navigating one of the world's busiest marine environments. In this talk, researcher Rebecca Dudley explores what long-term monitoring and citizen science are revealing about their lives. Learn how collaborative science and local partnerships are shaping new conservation strategies to protect these iconic yet threatened coastal dolphins.

Info: This talk will give you an understanding into the work of MARINElife in collecting data from sightings information from our ship based surveys and project work with other like-minded organisations and includes images of some of the wildlife we have encountered. 

Info: The large pelagic sharks such as the blue shark (Prionace glauca), Porbeagle (Lamna nasus) and common thresher (Alopias vulpinus) have always been present around the SW of the UK, but numbers dwindled during the late 20th and early 21st centuries, reflecting the huge commercial pressure on shark stocks in the Atlantic basin.
However, during the mid 2010s, these amazing apex predators returned in large numbers, to areas where they had declined or even been absent for many years.
During this talk, Dr. Thomas will look at the migrations of these amazing sharks, what we still don’t know about, them, how their return correlates with both environmental and anthropogenic variables, and how working with fishermen has produced unique long-term data sets, which enable complex models to tease out complex changes in marine ecosystems.

Info: A journey into South Devon’s seals, exploring their identification, behaviour, and how dedicated year-round monitoring reveals their lives, movements, and welfare along the coastline.

Info: Coasts are home to people, wildlife, and habitats where the land meets the ocean, necessitating that ecology, conservation, commerce, recreation, leisure, transport, culture, tradition, and society co-exist together. Coordinating these activities and needs across governance boundaries requires robust partnerships based on trusting collaborations. Join the Exe Estuary Management Partnership Officer to learn about coastal partnerships in the south west, and the challenges and opportunities presented through local, regional, national, and international collaboration.

Info: A dynamic introduction to a new and exciting project with Operation Cetacean, highlighting efforts to study harbour porpoises and other marine mammals in Torbay and deepen understanding of their conservation needs.

Info: Alex is a Masters student in Sustainable Development with a passion for ocean conservation and a focus on socially just marine conservation and governance.

​

She volunteers with the Marine Conservation Society, an environmental charity run by and for sea lovers, and will be happy to share more information and materials about their work during the day. 

​

The charity is working toward a cleaner, better protected, healthier ocean: one we can all enjoy. Our main aims are to reduce ocean pollution, improve sustainable fishing, and protect marine habitats and wildlife. We do this through science, policy work, education, and community action. It’s all about creating a healthier ocean for people, wildlife, and future generations.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Conservation Chat UK