Permanent protection – It is vital that our sites are given permanent protection. It can take decades for communities to recover and sea fans to grow; but only seconds for them to be destroyed.

A precautionary approach – More is known about the coasts and seas of South West England than anywhere else, but still our understanding of habitats and species is limited. However, this is not a reason not to provide protection, in fact our lack of real understanding is a strong basis for ensuring proper protection.

Replicated – Using the major habitat groups as the foundation for the network we need to ensure that they are shared around the region in order to ensure that the strains and gains are shared.

Representative – The network will need to include representations of all major kinds of habitats from rocky reef to seagrass and mud; and not just those that are threatened or perceived as beautiful.

Ecologically viable – Each individual MPA should be located and designed so that it can be ecologically viable. This includes being large enough to ensure that ecological processes can operate.

Protecting vulnerable habitats - The network will place particular emphasis on vulnerable habitats that can most benefit from protection such as maerl beds and deep water corals. Habitats that are subject to frequent natural disturbance such as shallow sand banks will have less benefit from protection.

Well connected – The network will be designed to maximise the connectivity between each MPA through current flows. This will allow the eggs and larvae from protected species to be dispersed throughout the network allowing the benefits across all life stages to be maximised.

Existing designations – There are already a variety of protective designations around the South West such as SACs and SPAs. These have been chosen because of a particularly vulnerable or important species or habitat, so they will need to be given a high priority for ultimate inclusion as an MPA which will help by bringing them stronger legal protection and enforcement.

Identifiable and enforceable – Each MPA needs to be clearly identifiable to those who use the sea area for livelihood or leisure. They will need to be marked on charts and navigation systems and coastal sites will need to be shown from the shore and buoys used to show the boundaries.

Access and interpretation – Coastal MPAs will attract a great deal of interest from locals and visitors alike and it is important that these sites provide the necessary infrastructure to protect the site and those that are using it. In addition guides and interpretation will ensure that they enjoy and benefit from the experience.