3 December 2008
The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) welcomes the
announcement in today’s Queen’s Speech that the Marine and Coastal
Access Bill is in the legislative
programme for the next session of Parliament.
JNCC considers the Bill to be a very significant legislative
opportunity to improve the protection of the UK’ s marine
environment. For JNCC, a particularly important aspect is that the
proposed Act will apply to the whole of the UK’s offshore waters,
including areas of continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from
the coast.
Our demand for resources from the sea, including food, energy
and materials has affected the quality of the UK’s seas. All human
activities require careful and sympathetic management to maintain
and, where appropriate, restore the marine environment’s capacity
to meet our needs.
The proposals in the UK Marine and Coastal Access Bill are a big
step forwards in the sustainable use of the UK’s seas.
JNCC welcomes the Government’s proposals to:
- Publish a UK Marine Policy Statement – this
will provide a strong framework to help implement consistent
policies across all aspects of marine work, and to help the UK meet
its international obligations for marine environmental
protection;
- Develop a marine planning system – this will
provide the opportunity to take a more strategic approach to
managing human activities in the marine environment, so that
requirements can be considered collectively rather than
individually;
- Improving the provision for nature
conservation – this includes the ability to create Marine
Conservation Zones in Offshore Waters. The UK has international
commitments to contribute to ecologically coherent networks of
well-managed Marine Protected Areas. Marine Conservation Zones will
enable the UK to fulfil these commitments and maintain its position
as one of world leaders in marine protection. Importantly, the
proposals include mechanisms to improve support amongst users of
the sea.
- Improve the marine licensing regime – this is
currently complex and outdated, and the Marine and Coastal Access
Bill will provide the ideal opportunity to put an integrated,
simplified and transparent system in place.
JNCC has been actively involved in the development of the Marine
and Coastal Access Bill and its associated implementing guidance,
and gave evidence to the Parliamentary Scrutiny process on the
draft Marine Bill published earlier this year. JNCC is working
closely with the UK Government and the devolved administrations in
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to ensure these exciting and
far-reaching proposals are delivered effectively and efficiently in
the coming years.
Jon Davies, JNCC’s Marine Protected Sites Team
Manager, said “the wide range of wildlife in the UK’s seas is a
very significant part of Europe’s marine biodiversity, and
therefore the UK has a big responsibility for protecting its seas
for future generations. The proposals for a new system of marine
protection in the Marine and Coastal Access Bill will complement
JNCC’s on-going work to identify European sites in offshore waters,
to fulfil the Government’s aim for a network of Marine Protected
Areas in UK by 2012”.
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Notes to editors:
The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is the statutory
adviser to Government on UK and international nature conservation,
on behalf of the Council for Nature Conservation and the
Countryside, the Countryside Council for Wales, Natural England and
Scottish Natural Heritage. Its work contributes to maintaining and
enriching biological diversity, conserving geological features and
sustaining natural systems.
For further information, please contact
+44
(0) 1733 866839