A list of the 15 marine areas most in need of protection around the coast of Britain has been compiled by conservation experts.

Each of the areas is of national importance for the preservation of at least one species of marine animal or plant, and for the diversity of life they contain.

The Wildlife Trusts, which embraces 47 local trusts, picked out the hotspots to highlight the need for legally protected conservation zones to be created in Britain’s seas, which contain 44,000 species.

They include a variety of habitats, from tidal mudflats to deep water, that are home to creatures ranging from tiny worms to the basking shark, the second biggest fish in British waters.

One of the sites, Rathlin Island, off the northeast of Northern Ireland, contains 25 species of newly discovered sponges found nowhere else in the world. Another, the Menai Strait, was selected for its vast diversity, with more than 500 species of plants and animals recorded in a 25-square-metre area.

The 15 marine sites are named in the Wildlife Trusts report, Marine Reserves – TLC for Our Seas and Sea Life, published today.

The conservationists argue that setting up marine reserves, fully protected by law, is essential to give wildlife a breathing space from overexploitation.

Marine creatures and plants have been given a degree of protection in marine protected areas (MPAs) where human activity is restricted but are regarded by many scientists and enthusiasts as inadequate.

Marine reserves would prohibit all fishing, dredging and construction to allow the populations of marine wildlife to recover.

Such zones have been shown in several studies to be effective at boosting species numbers, most recently around Lundy Island off the north Cornwall coast, but they cover less than a thousandth of the seas around Britain. Lundy Island has a 3.3 sq km no-take zone where all fishing is banned. A study published last week found that lobster numbers have recovered so successfully in the zone that they are now repopulating neighbouring areas.

Sir David Attenborough, the television naturalist and vice-president of the Wildlife Trusts, said: “As an island nation, I find it astonishing that we have protected less than a thousandth of one per cent of our seas from fishing and all damaging activities.”

The report argued that time was running out for the Government to meet a commitment to ensure that there is an adequate network of protected areas by 2010. This year the Government published a White Paper setting out its plans for protecting marine life but has yet to include it in a timetable for legislation.

The country’s conservationists are becoming increasingly concerned that the proposed Marine Bill will be excluded from the autumn Queen’s Speech, delaying action for another year. Stephanie Hilborne, of the Wildlife Trusts, said: “The Marine Bill must be included in next month’s Queen’s Speech and it must deliver marine reserves. Our marine life is at stake.”

The report published today says that human exploitation of the seas, whether for food or oil, has been so intensive that the marine environment “is a shadow of its former self”.

“Our seas are in desperate need of some tender loving care. The marine environment - our life support system – is on its knees,” says the report. “In recent decades we have taken too much, with too little care. Fragile habitats have been destroyed and wildlife has suffered. Corals, seahorses, dolphins, seals and sharks - all have been affected.

“Without marine reserves, we will continue on our downward spiral. With them, we can start to rebuild our living seas.”

Top 15 areas in need of protection...

Lamlash Bay

Rathlin Island

Strangford Lough

Solway Firth

Dogger Bank

Easington-Dimlington Reef

Shell Flat

Menai Strait

Skomer

Isles of Scilly

The Manacles

Studland Bay

The Overfalls

Lyme Bay Reefs

Lundy

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