Thirteen of the 16 species and habitats investigated by the World Wildlife Fund are in decline, including reefs and salt marshes a new report finds.

The majority of damage to marine habitats is due to coastal development, fishing, aquaculture and oil and gas exploitation, claims the WWF.

WWF Senior Marine Policy Officer, Jan Brown, said: ‘If nothing is done our children’s children will be faced with a very sad, degraded sea and an unhealthy sea. We are now discovering there are plants in our seas with medicinal properties so it’s a bit like destroying the rainforest before you know what you’ve actually got there.’