Marine Bill in final stages

The Marine and Coastal Access Bill has received royal ascent and is now an Act of Law.  The idea of passing a bill to protect the UK’s marine coastal areas has been on the political agenda since 2001. The act will establish a series of marine conservation zones, and will create a footpath which stretches along the entire coastline of England and Wales. Following a lengthy consultation and much debate in the House of Lords and the House of Commons, the act became law on the 12th November 2009.

“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.” says the Marine Conservation Society.

Environmental groups continue to campaign for effective implementation of the Act including the RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, WWF and other charities working together under the umbrella group Wildlife & Countryside Link. The Scottish Parliament is also working towards establishing it’s own marine bill which passed the first parliamentary stages at the end of October 2009.

“This is a huge leap forward from the current situation where only 0.001% of UK seas are offered high levels of protection from damaging activities,” said Sally Bailey, northeast Atlantic marine manager for the conservation group WWF UK. Currently, UK waters have just three “highly protected” marine reserves, at Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland, Skomer in Pembrokeshire, and Lundy Island off the North Devon coast.

Environmental groups have criticized the marine bill for not going far enough to provide adequate protection for the coastal waters around the UK. “Merely protecting what is left in the damaged seas we have created is not good enough” said Calum Duncan of Scottish Environment Link.

For more information on the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, visit the Defra website.