Yorkshire’s marine environment is hugely diverse. Our sea and shoreline are home to wildlife of national and European importance, including edible crabs and European lobster, minke whales and harbour porpoise and a mosaic of different habitats such as chalk reefs, kelp forests, gravelly seabeds and rocky shores. Yorkshire’s coast and sea also host thousands of seabirds each year who migrate long distances to breed and rear their young.

For a decade Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has worked to conserve our marine wildlife and habitats, with the aim of contributing to achieving The Wildlife Trust’s national vision for our seas. Our vision is for:

Marine wildlife to recover from past decline as our use of the seas"resources become environmentally sustainable.

The natural environment to adapt well to a changing climate, and ocean processes help to slow down climate change.

People to be inspired by marine wildlife and value the sea for the many ways in which it supports our quality of life.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust are very excited to be a part of ArtWaves Festival’s Environmental strand this year. We will have lots of information about the work we do to reduce plastic pollution including beach cleans and working with local fishermen, and we will have a variety of plastic related activities on our stand so come and say hello!