Nature conservation
The Government has a vision to produce clean, healthy and biodiverse seas around the coast of the UK. One of the means of achieving this will be through the establishment of a network of marine protected areas (MPAs).
By 2012, it is intended to have established a network of European marine sites in accordance with the requirements of the EC’s Habitats and Wild Birds Directives under the Natura 2000 (N2K) programme. These European sites will comprise special areas of conservation (SACs) for annex I natural habitat types and annex II protected species and special protection areas (SPAs) for wild birds.
In addition to the European marine sites, the Government intends to designate an ecologically coherent network of national marine conservation zones (MCZs) by 2012, using authority derived from the Marine and Coastal Access Act. MCZs will be established as a result of extensive consultation with interested parties, lead by four English regional project groups. These groups will take account of the views of a wide range of local statutory and non-statutory interest groups. The process of selecting and creating MCZs will take account of a combination of scientific advice and socio-economic factors.
The newly created Marine and Coastal Access Act gives new responsibilities for nature conservation to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). The Marine and Fisheries Agency is currently undertaking a project to ensure that the MMO is fully prepared to carry out its new duties. These include:
- making byelaws to protect MPAs from unregulated activities
- wildlife licensing under various legislation in the UK Marine area
- enforcement of nature conservation and additional management measures once network of MPAs in place.