Our seas in Wales are home to some of the most beautiful and productive habitats in the world including horse mussel reefs, seagrass beds and cold-water corals and mobile species like dolphins and basking sharks. However current protection and management are failing them and we urgently need the Marine Bill to better protect our marine wildlife.

"…..amendments will be needed to make the Marine Bill more robust and we will be highlighting these at both Westminster and the National Assembly."

Dr Lyndsey Dodds, marine policy officer at WWF Cymru says: "There are many positive steps outlined in the draft Marine Bill, however this is only the first stage of a longer process, however now that it is included in the draft Queens Speech it shows that the Government is getting serious about safeguarding our seas."

WWF Cymru are reassured that the draft Bill includes provisions for Wales to introduce a strategic and forward-looking system of marine planning, a streamlined licensing regime and create Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs), including Highly Protected Marine Reserves, where all damaging activities are prohibited.

Dr Lyndsey Dodds says; "We are pleased that the Welsh Assembly Government has committed to creating a network of 'Highly Protected Marine Reserves' by 2012. We believe that there should be some areas that receive the highest level of protection to allow species and habitats to recover and flourish, ensure resilience against climate change and have reference sites for scientific research."

"WWF Cymru are disappointed that there is a limited commitment in the draft Bill to working together across borders and boundaries."

"However WWF Cymru believes that some amendments will be needed to make the Marine Bill more robust and we will be highlighting these at both Westminster and the National Assembly. We believe there needs to be a legal obligation to designate MCZs, otherwise we are concerned there will be no impetus to use this legislation. We also need to be sure that the new legislation will give adequate protection for our nationally important species and habitats.

"We are also disappointed that there is a limited commitment in the draft Bill to working together across borders and boundaries. We would like the Marine Bill to create a legal obligation for administrations to work together and agree marine plans jointly for areas such as the Severn and Dee estuaries. This would ensure that management is co-ordinated and simplified and marine species and habitats are protected at a scale that makes ecological rather than political sense. Currently the 'Marine Policy Statement', proposed in the draft Bill, does not apply to Scottish waters. It is vital that it applies to all UK waters to ensure broad-scale integration of planning and management."