Creative commons imageCredit: The Welsh Coast In May / bestfor / richard / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Are we doing enough to protect the wildlife in our coastal waters?

The government is in the process of deciding which areas around England and Wales to protect as conservation areas, but wildlife organisations are concerned.

Only 31 out of the 127 recommended areas are being considered for protection, and some important wildlife areas are left off the list.

Our seas are used by very many people, for leisure, fishing, wind farms, oil and gas; so how does wildlife fair with so many pressures on our seas?

Marine Conservation Zones are under the spotlight.

Also in the programme:

• News from around the world with regular news reporter, Kelvin Boot
• An update on the activities of the Open University's iSpot. A new iSpot app has been launched, making it possible to photograph wildlife, upload it to iSpot and get help with identifications while you’re still out in the field. See marine observations and coastal observations on iSpot.

Listen to Saving Species

You can listen to this episode of Saving Species on BBC Radio 4 at 11:00am on Tuesday 15 January 2013. More information and a link to listen again can be found on the Radio 4 website.

Dig deeper into nature