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Conservation

Protecting and improving the East Riding environment

Find out more about the teams that work in the East Riding Coast and Countryside to ensure you have a safe and enjoyable environment to explore and play in. Discover ways you can be part of local conservation efforts and the things to watch out for.

How you can help

The Friends of the Humber Bridge Country Park

Join a group of volunteers interested in the wildlife of the nature reserve. The old quarry has chalk cliffs, ponds, woodland and meadows so there is plenty to do! All are welcome to join in with weekend conservation activities at the park, take part in watching wildlife, carry out surveys or come along to a workshop or talk.

The Friends of Oakhill

Working in partnership with the East Riding and other private landowners to create a brand new green space on the edge of Goole. The site has a range of habitats with woodland, grassland, scrub and ponds and there is huge scope for helping with conservation tasks, surveys and helping other visitors enjoy the site. The group is often active on a weekend and anyone is welcome to join in.

Beach Cleans

Various organisations carry out regular litter picks/beach cleans along the Yorkshire coast. If you would like to volunteer to help keep our coastline clean or if you would like to help in another capacity please click on the relevant links below.

Marine Conservation Society Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Surfers Against Sewage Hornsea

Become a British Divers Marine Life Rescue Volunteer

BDMLR medics are all volunteers who can become involved in the organisation as little or as much as they want. BDMLR provides ongoing training to ensure medics are as highly trained as possible.

Doing our bit for conservation

The Coastal service Team have had 4 recycling bins installed, one on each of the following promenades, Bridlington north, Bridlington South, Hornsea and Withernsea.

The office also has recycle bins and motion sensor lights to save on electricity.

The council provide chemical spill kits to prevent/minimise contamination and work closely with the Environment agency and Yorkshire water, monitoring and reporting on possible pollution sources.

A few of our staff are trained marine mammal medics and have assisted with the rescue and relocation of numerous seals and injured sea birds with the help of local wildlife charities.

Ash Dieback

At a number of sites in the East Riding there are reports of Ash trees with a fungal disease known as 'Ash dieback'. The disease causes die back of the tree's crown and infects the vascular system causing blockages. The disease appears to kill saplings and young trees very quickly, often within one year. However, infected older and larger trees can take many years to die.

The countryside is still open for people to visit and the chance of the disease being spread by visitors to the countryside is low. However it is recommended that you do not pick leaves and move them from one site to another.

For more information on Ash dieback disease and how to spot the symptoms please visit The Forestry Commission website.

Report a diseased tree

The Countryside Code

There are not many things better than going for a leisurely stroll round your local village, past windswept cliffs, rolling hills and open fields.

However, it is important to realise you are not alone! Spare a thought for the birds, animals, plants and trees you may encounter and what you can do to help conserve their future. Keep to designated routes, close any gates you open and keep your dogs under close control.

Download The Countryside Code

No Take Zone

This is the first No Take Zone in the North Sea and is an important step for marine conservation.

A No Take Zone means exactly that - You cannot remove anything from within the zone either above or below the high tide mark. Sea fish, including shellfish, and all plants and animals must be left where they are.

You are welcome to examine fossils and look through rock pools but please leave everything as you found it.

The purpose of the No Take Zone is to examine what happens to populations of marine species if we stop removing them from this area, and to help the area return to a more natural state.

The No Take Zone extends from Dane's Dyke to Sewerby.

Download Full PDF (5 MB)

Litter

Did you know over 30 million tons of litter is dropped every year in Britain? We can all agree that amounts to a lot of money spent cleaning our streets that could be better spent elsewhere. You can help by reporting litter and stopping people from spoiling our beautiful coast and countryside. Alternatively you can join a local group and help by cleaning your local area and setting a great example for others to follow.

How can I prevent litter?
  • Use reusable shopping bags
  • Have a rubbish bag in your car
  • Purchase a reusable coffee cup and/or water bottle
  • Use re-sealable containers
  • Recycle whenever possible
  • Ensure your bins have secure lids to prevent waste blowing away
  • Whenever possible avoid single use plastics
  • Always use the bins provided and if they are full, take your litter home
  • Buy a reusable mask
  • Buy loose fruit and vegetables, or ask your supermarket why if they don't sell loose products

If you would like to know more or would like to participate in a litter pick/beach clean then please click on the links above.

Litter facts
  • One million plastic bottles are sold around the world every minute.
  • A plastic bottle left on the beach may last over 400 years in the marine environment.
  • Worldwide, about 2 million plastic bags are used every minute.
  • Plastic makes up the vast majority of marine litter, and unfortunately never truly goes away. It just gets smaller, eventually becoming micro plastics, some of which, enter the food chain
  • The average person eats 70,000 micro plastics each year.
  • A staggering 6.4 million tonnes of litter enter the world’s oceans annually.
  • An estimated 8 million individual pieces of marine litter enter the oceans every day.
  • On average there are 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in every square mile of ocean.
  • Over 70% of beach litter worldwide is plastic.
  • The amount of marine litter found on Britain’s beaches has more than doubled in the last 15 years.
  • Plastic is killing more than 1.1 million seabirds and animals every year through entanglement and ingestion
  • It is a sad fact that 94% of Fulmars in the North Sea have ingested plastic.
  • Since the 5p plastic bag charge in the UK, there has been an 80% reduction in the number of bags given out in supermarkets.
  • Around 4.5 trillion cigarette butts litter the environment every year.
  • Almost 40% of the litter found in our oceans comes directly from the public.
  • In some parts of the world, using plastic is already illegal.

Report litter online

Pollution

Ghost gear

Ghost gear is abandoned fishing gear, usually lost accidentally due to severe weather, snagging under water or collision with other fishing gear.

An incredible 640,000 tonnes of ghost gear is lost into the world's oceans each year. As it is made from plastics some of this equipment can take up to 600 years to break down.

Ghost gear is a deadly form of plastic pollution as it is designed to catch marine life and endangers everything from seabirds to the largest whales.

If you spot ghost gear washed up on the Yorkshire coastline you can email Matt.Barnes@mcsuk.org Matt and a team of volunteers To learn more about volunteering please visit the Marine Conservation Society website

Micro plastics

Micro plastics are small pieces of plastic less than 5mm in diameter, they can either be formed as larger plastic objects such as disposable plastic bottles slowly breakdown in the oceans or micro plastics can wash directly into the oceans in the form of pellets or micro fibres from clothes extracted from washing machine waste water.

Micro plastics are so small that they can easily enter the food chain, they are eaten by small fish, which in turn get eaten by bigger fish, sea birds and mammals, including us. Micro plastics have been found at every level of the food chain

For more information, or if you would like to sign the petition to stop micro threads entering the ocean please visit the Marine Conservation Society website

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MCS - Stop Ocean Threads campaign from Sam Pierpoint on Vimeo.

Erosion

Coastal erosion is a natural process that occurs as a result of waves, tides or currents striking the shore. Sediment or rocks are washed away, typically releasing sediment into the sea and causing the coastline to retreat inland.

Recent records suggest that the East Riding coastline is eroding at an average rate of 1.5-2.5 metres per year. However, certain locations which are not defended can experience individual cliff losses of 20 metres or more due to natural processes.

The major towns of Bridlington, Hornsea and Withernsea, plus important infrastructure at Mappleton and Dimlington Gas Terminals are defended against coastal erosion. These defences are surveyed and maintained regularly to ensure that they continue to function to a high standard.

Despite this, we cannot defend the entire coastline of the East Riding. Coastal defences such as seawalls and groynes tend to be expensive, short-term options which have a high impact on the landscape or environment. It would therefore be unsustainable and inappropriate to defend all 85 kilometres (53 miles) of our coastline against coastal erosion.

Visit Coastal Explorer