Our continued support of the Marine Conservation Society

At Travel Chapter, we know we have a responsibility to support our communities and protect the environment now and in the future. Our newly acquired B Corp Certification not only recognises our longstanding efforts to employ environmentally friendly practices, it also enhances our appeal to sustainability-conscious travellers.

We are therefore proud to announce that our flagship brand, holidaycottages.co.uk, will continue to support the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) with contributions funding several collaborative UK-wide climate and ocean resilience projects.

With so many of our guests choosing to holiday by the coast, it’s important to appreciate the importance of protecting and preserving our shores along with the marine habitats that exist further offshore.

In the past, we have aided the MCS in their mission to protect seagrass habitats along the South Coast of England. Whilst we are continuing to help protect this unique habitat, we are now broadening the scope of our support to incorporate those projects that are deemed the highest priority to the MCS. The focus of these projects is to recover both species and habitats that can deliver the fastest solutions to the climate and nature emergency, be that carbon sequestration, water filtration or something else.

Ocean resilience projects

The ventures the MCS are undertaking include plans to protect pink sea fan coral, seagrass, native oysters, kelp forests, horse mussel reefs and ocean quahogs.

Kelp

Our annual contribution could help to protect and recover upto 1ha of the UK’s vital kelp beds. Kelp beds limit the effects of sea erosion and help to retain nearshore sand from storm driven tides. A kelp forest can absorb up to 20 times more carbon dioxide than the same area of land forest.

Seagrass

Seagrass meadows are known as the ‘lungs of the sea’. One square metre can generate ten litres of oxygen every day through photosynthesis; this produces more oxygen compared with the same area of rainforest. Also, a 2.5-hectare, healthy seagrass meadow has the potential to sequester 4,125 tonnes of carbon.

Pink sea fans

Pink sea fans are a type of cold water and temperate soft coral that has complex, branch-like structures. The reefs created by these fractals provide shelter and breeding grounds to all manner of invertebrates, fish and microorganisms. Pink sea fans are sensitive organisms and can serve as important indicators of environmental sea health. This means that our funding to protect them can in turn help to protect the habitats around them.

Cold-water coral

Another type of coral that the ocean resilience projects aim to protect is cold water coral. Located at greater depths than pink sea coral, these species can live 2,000 metres below the ocean surface, where light cannot penetrate. Protection of these habitats is vital as some species can live for hundreds of thousands of years and with the growth rate being as slow as 4 to 25 mm a year, recovery from human-led harm can be very protracted.

Native oysters

The ecosystem engineers of the sea, native oysters form rock-like reefs that provide a much-needed nursery for juvenile marine species.They are also water purifiers, with each individual oyster filtering out pollutants, chemicals and particulates from 200 litres of water a day.

Horse mussel

Another mollusc that is essential for water filtration is the horse mussel. They can reach lengths of 20cm and live for 50 years. The reefs they create are the perfect habitat for some varieties of fish and they are capable of processing and storing carbon, thus benefitting the environment even further.

Quahog

In the muddy sea beds offshore lives another mollusc. Quahogs can be counted among the oldest animals ever recorded, with one individual reportedly reaching a ripe old age of 500 years. Mud beds are considered the biggest carbon stores in the world and therefore this habitat must be protected. Any disturbance to these areas can not only create imbalances in the atmosphere but can also greatly displace quahog populations which take a very long time to recover from damage.

Continued support

Mike Oakey, Chief Marketing Officer at holidaycottages.co.uk, commented: “We’re delighted to continue our support of the Marine Conservation Society to help protect the amazing ocean life we have in the UK’s waters. With so many of our guests holidaying at both popular and remote seaside locations, coupled with a large number of our staff living by the coast too, we know that it’s vital to do what we can help safeguard our coastlines as well as those habitats slightly further out to sea.

We look forward to seeing how these UK-wide climate and ocean resilience projects develop over time, and we cannot wait to see where our partnership with the MCS takes us.”

Find out more about our partnership here, or visit the Marine Conservation Society website to learn more about the charity and the amazing work it does.

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