In 2008 the Government published a draft Marine Bill that proposed the creation of Marine Conservation Zones. This bill is currently going through the House of Commons and is expected to be passed by the end of the year. Scotland also has its own Marine Bill. There's lots more information on the issues facing our marine life on the Autumnwatch website.

To propose a site visit the MCS's Your Seas Your Voice website and tell them which area you'd like protected and why. The information you give will be collated and passed onto the Government.

Seahorses
In Autumnwatch I went diving beneath the waters at Studland Bay to look for seahorses. The Seahorse Trust would know like your help. Have you see any seahorses? Would you like to get involved with their survey? The Trust needs as much information as possible, so every little bit helps.

Basking sharks
Reports have been seen along the west coast of the UK this spring. For more information go to the Basking Shark Project's website.

If you'd like to make the most of your marine activities this year, The Wildlife Trusts have made this guide to the species you could be lucky enough to encounter on your adventures.

About a third of ponds in the UK have disappeared in the last 50 years. What's more, about 80% of those that remain are in poor condition for wildlife.

You don't need a lot of space or money to create a wildlife pond. Even a small pond can be a watery home for invertebrates like dragonflies and water boatman. Frogs, toads and newts will prefer something over 1-2 metres in diameter.

I've been creating a pond in my garden with advice from the WWT. You can follow how it takes shape over the coming weeks and months on the WWT website. And below is the film we showed in Springwatch.

If you want to build your own wildlife pond, the design is crucial. Here are some things to bear in mind:

• Shallow edges allow animals to get easily in and out
• Use rainwater rather than tap water to fill it if you can
• To keep the water as clean as possible, ensure soil, garden fertilisers or other chemicals can't be washed into the pond
• Use native pond plants
• Ornamental fish will eat larvae and other pond life so leave them out if you want to maximise the variety of animals in your pond

There's loads of great help and advice available from Pond Conservation, Breathing Places and Froglife.

And when you've built one and helped wildlife, why not help science? There are a number of organisations dying to find out how you get on:

Pond Conservation are running the Big Garden Pond Dip. They'd like you to look for the 10 or so types of easily recognisable animals that indicate if your pond is in good shape. All you need is a kitchen sieve and a white tray to get dipping.

The Wildfowl and Wetland Trust want to hear about the ponds and boggy areas in your garden in their Wetlands in My Back Yard survey.

The British Trust for Ornithology, Froglife and the Herpetological Conservation Trust want to hear about any reptiles and amphibians you find in your garden. Contact them to get a survey pack.