Marine & Coastal Access Act

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The big problem with marine conservation is that the majority of organisms cannot be seen. From land, the best most people see is the odd glimpse of a world of colourful jewels and weird creatures in rock pools or odd blobs of jelly on rocks. This is misleading because parts of the undersea world is a riot of spectacular colours and odd animals. But, as they are largely out of sight they go un-noticed and therefore marine conservation lags behind its terrestrial counterparts. This is despite aspirations to conserve wildlife set out in the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) signed in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and the EU's Gothenburgh declaration (2001) in which leaders committed to halting biodiversity loss by 2010. The fact that the Marine Act has only just arrived on the statute books is testimony to the slow pace of change and perhaps also to the power whillded by insiteutions with a vested interest in exploting our marine environment.

But after many years of campaigning, and much debating in both the Houses of Lords and Commons, the
Marine & Coastal Access Bill received Royal Assent on 12 November 2009 and so becomes an Act.

This followed a long campaign lead by the Marine Conservation Society, RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, WWF and other charities working together under the umbrella group Wildlife & Countryside Link.

The MCS is also campaigning for a Scottish Marine Bill with other charity partners that is expected to become law by Spring 2010. In summary the UK Marine & Coastal Access Act commits the UK to an ambitious new approach to managing the marine environment that will include establishing Marine Conservation Zones, a Marine Planning system, inshore fisheries reform, streamlining of licensing, establishment of a Marine Management Organisation (for England and UK matters) and coastal access provisions.

A network of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZ) will be established that will protect nationally important habitats and species such as eelgrass beds, seahorses and sea fans. Vote for where you want a site at www.yourseasyourvoice.org. View Your Sea Your Voice PowerPoint.
A Marine Planning system will enable forward planning of all marine activities for the first time. A UK Marine Policy Statement will be produced and regional marine plans throughout UK waters.
Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authorities will replace Sea Fisheries Committees and they will have improved regulation tools.
A Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is being established that will be responsible for Marine Planning, licensing and fisheries. It will be based in Newcastle.
Licensing will be reformed and simplified making it easier for industry and civil servants
Coastal Access will be provided with one footpath around the whole of England. This will primarily be along the open coast.
Why do we need these protected areas?

In terms of marine management , the crucial policy driver for the Marine and Coastal Access Act lies in Defra's policy document ‘Safeguarding our Seas: A strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of our Marine Environment‟ (2002) in which a specific outcome was sought: „clean, healthy, safe, productive, and biologically diverse oceans and seas’. There are many reasons for this aspiration, not least recognition that the seas are our life-support system that has been responsible for much of the carbon sequestration that has taken place over the past billions of years. Add to that the reliance we place on the marine environment as a source of food and raw materials, it is clear in terms that the seas occupy a central place in the systems that secure our well-being.

We have failed to meet the targets set by either Gothenburg or Rio commitments. In recent years some of the finest reef features on the south coast of England have been extensively damaged in Lyme Bay by Scallop fishermen. Every winter 400 plus dead dolphins wash up south-west shores as a result of pair trawling for bass, and stocks of several commercial fish are close to collapse. Seabird colonies that are reliant upon fish are also experiencing very low reproductive success, which in turn leads to declining populations of charismatic species such as puffins. The need for the setting up of the MCZ’s becomes very apparent under these circumstances.

Unlike selection of Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Areas (SPA), MCZs are being developed through a consultative process with four separate projects:

DEFRA have produced a non-technical leaflet on ‘Protecting our marine environment through the Marine Bill’.
You can down load a pdf version here.

The idea of these projects is that stakeholders will influence the choice of sites. This means that at least in theory the choices will not be driven wholly by the conservation lobby and it will be possible to take account of socio-economic concerns as well.

The MCZ Project planning timetable

In England, the four Regional MCZ Projects have been asked to submit their recommendations to Natural England and JNCC by June 2011.

Providing these recommendations meet the scientific guidelines set, they will be submitted unchanged to Ministers. In the event that they do not meet the guidelines, Natural England and JNCC will also provide their advice to Ministers.

Recommendations, along with Natural England’s and JNCC’s advice, will then be submitted to Ministers, at which point the statutory stage of the designation process will commence.

On receiving recommended network options, Ministers will consider how well they meet, and are consistent with, the relevant statutory considerations, national policy objectives, the advice of the independent Science Advisory Panel, the conservation agencies, and the UK’s international commitments.

Although not bound by the recommendations of the regional projects, Ministers will attach considerable weight to them, especially where recommendations are supported by stakeholders.

Where the recommendations from the Regional MCZ Projects are accepted, Ministers will draft designation orders, and carry out formal public consultation in accordance with section 119 of the Act.

Formal public consultation is expected to take place in early 2012. Ministers will consider objections and representations received before deciding whether to make a designation order.

The Marine Conservation Society believe that new sites to be designated as Marine Conservation Zones (off England & Wales) and Marine Protected Areas (off Scotland) should be selected based on scientific criteria. Where marine flora or fauna or habitats are not rare, threatened or declining and the desirability of designating two or more areas is equal, then we accept that regard could be given to any social or economic consequences of designation as a secondary consideration, subject to the achievement of ecological coherence of the site network and the site conservation objectives as set out in the UK and Scottish Marine Bills.

Where socio-economic criteria are being considered, for example when choosing between ecologically equivalent sites, we believe that if commercial interests are to have a say in where such representative sites are located so should the public, divers and others who appreciate our seas. This will help reflect the fact that the sea is not simply a resource that is there to be exploited. Instead, it is an important natural asset to be enjoyed by all, and conservation zones and marine protected areas will be appreciated by a great many people, including our members and the general public; both in person and in just knowing they exist.

Your Seas Your Voice offers the UK public the opportunity to show they support the principle of marine reserves in our seas, will help show where sites have most public support and could also identify new sites with scientific merit that government searches might have overlooked.

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