House of Commons - Marine protected areas - Environmental Audit Committee

Marine protected areas - Environmental Audit Committee Contents

1 Introduction

1. Human activities, such as fishing and aggregate extraction, have caused significant damage to marine habitats and species. It has been estimated that 15 of the world's 17 large fisheries "either have collapsed or are on the brink of collapse".[1] Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been introduced in an attempt to help protect that marine environment. The Government has committed itself to developing a UK-wide well-managed and ecologically coherent network of MPAs, which would include more than 25% of English waters by 2016.[2] This is "one strand" of the Government's programme "to protect and enhance the marine environment" while supporting sustainable use of its resources to achieve its vision of "clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas".[3] MPAs are also intended to meet international commitments, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, and contribute to achieving the Good Environmental Status required by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. There are also MPAs designated under European legislation: Special Areas of Conservation protect specific marine habitats and species, and Special Protected Areas protect birds.

2. Defra is responsible for English inshore waters and for offshore waters around England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is also responsible for Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs)—a type of MPA—in those areas. These have had a long period of development. The Government in the previous Parliament published a Draft Marine Bill in April 2008 which provided a framework for establishing MCZs. It was scrutinised by a Joint Committee in 2008,[4] and the measures were subsequently enacted through the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009.[5] The Act requires that MCZs be designated in such a way as to form a network that, with other UK MPAs, contributes to the conservation of the UK marine environment. The habitats and species protected by the network, the Act states, must represent the range present in the wider UK marine area, and reflect the fact that the conservation of a feature may require the designation of more than one site.[6] The Act also states that, unlike for other MPAs, "economic or social consequences" may be considered during the selection and designation of MCZs.[7]

3. Four regional project groups were formed in 2009 to recommend MCZ locations and boundaries. These groups comprised organisations and individuals representing marine sectors—including fishing, marine renewable energy and conservation—and government advisory bodies. The process was set up by Natural England, who advise the Government on marine nature conservation in inshore waters, and by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee for offshore waters (together, these bodies comprise the Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies).[8] Other bodies are responsible for managing and regulating MCZs: the Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities within six nautical miles, and the Marine Management Organisation beyond that.[9]

4. In 2011, the project groups recommended MCZs for 127 sites, covering 15% of the waters under Defra's jurisdiction.[10] The Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies scrutinised the evidence base for these MCZ proposals and concluded in July 2012 that the 127 sites represented "good progress" towards the achievement of an ecologically coherent network.[11] Defra published a public consultation document at the end of 2012 which identified 31 MCZs for possible designation in 2013.[12]

5. Subsequently, in July 2013, the Government said that it would not take forward all of the 127 originally recommended MCZs at that stage because of concerns about the evidence supporting their designation.[13] In November 2013, the Government designated 27 MCZs.[14] The designation Orders for the initial 27 MCZs confer duties on public authorities to carry out their functions in such a way as to further or, if this is not possible, to least hinder the achievement of the conservation objectives of the sites. The Government plans to designate two more tranches of MCZs over the next two years. Consultation on the first of these is expected in early 2015 with designation of sites by the end of 2015. A third tranche is expected to follow a year later. In February 2014, Defra issued an Update on progress with MCZs,[15] which listed 37 sites which might be suitable candidates for the second tranche.

Our inquiry

6. We called in our January 2014 report on Sustainability in the UK Overseas Territories for designation of marine protected areas in several of those Territories;[16] a call that was repeated in a Westminster Hall debate on the issue in May 2014.[17] We noted in the Report that the Aichi Biodiversity Targets require that by 2020 at least 10% of coastal and marine areas should be "conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas". We called on the Government to declare new Marine Protected Areas around the Pitcairn Islands, Tristan da Cunha and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; a move which would make a significant contribution to protecting the biodiversity of the World's oceans.[18] Urgent action on this important matter is now imperative. Marine Protected Areas for key Overseas Territories should be declared before the end of the current Parliament.

7. In this inquiry we have examined the situation in UK waters, where MCZs have been introduced after a protracted period (paragraph 2). As we noted in our recent report on Well-being,[19] the Natural Capital Committee has identified evidence gaps "which make it difficult to assess the overall status and trends for natural assets",[20] including in the marine area around the UK which it assessed to have the worst 'data quality' of eight natural asset 'domains'.[21] In April 2013, the Science and Technology Committee's report on Marine Science criticised the Government for increasing the level of evidence required before MCZs could be designated.[22] The Committee also concluded that a "lack of clarity on management measures creates uncertainty" and urged the Government to "produce a clear statement on how management measures [for the MCZs] will be decided" along with "a clear timetable showing when these will be discussed".[23] We have followed up the work of the Science and Technology Committee. We have examined in particular:

· the issues surrounding the creation of a network of Marine Conservation Zones, including the difficulties in gathering evidence and in balancing environmental and socio-economic interests (Part 2); and

· how to achieve effective management, supervision and enforcement of the Zones, and the need for an effective strategic approach to the overall development of the network of Zones (Part 3).

8. We took oral evidence from 12 witnesses, including the Defra Minister George Eustice MP and representatives of scientific institutions, environmental groups, marine industries and leisure users. We are grateful to everyone who gave evidence.

1 HC Deb 8 May 2014, col 170 Back

2 Defra (MPA 0027), paras 2 and 52 Back

3 Ibid, para 1 Back

4 Joint Committee on the Draft Marine Bill, Draft Marine Bill, HC (2008-09) 552-I Back

5 Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, s116 et seq Back

6 Ibid, section 123 Back

7 Ibid, section 117 Back

8 JNCC, The Marine Conservation Zone Project Back

9 Q144 Back

10 JNCC and Natural England, JNCC and Natural England's Advice to Defra on recommended Marine Conservation Zones (July 2012), Summary p4 Back

11 Ibid,Summary p7 Back

12 Defra, Marine Conservation Zones: Consultation on proposals for designation in 2013 Back