WWF - For a living planet

Lifeline for our UK seas

April 2008 saw the long-awaited publication of a draft UK Marine and Coastal Access Bill, a crucial piece of legislation that environmental organisations have been calling on the government to introduce for several years. This was an important milestone for WWF’s Marine Act campaign, as this was the first time that the government presented parliament with such a detailed blueprint for future legislation. Back in 2000 WWF warned that our seas were in crisis, and key habitats and iconic species - including basking sharks, leatherback turtles and harbour porpoises - would decline without better marine legislation.

Since 2000, progress towards a UK Marine Bill has been slow. There has been a number of high-level commitments to better marine legislation, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has launched a number of lengthy consultations on proposals for a UK Marine Bill. In their 2005 general election manifestos, all three main political parties pledged to introduce a UK Marine Bill. However, it has taken almost three more years for a draft bill to be published. In the meantime, vulnerable marine species and habitats continue to decline.

WWF welcomes many of the proposals included in the draft bill published in April, but feel that it can still be strengthened. It is also vital that this draft bill leads swiftly to a full UK Marine Bill, and that it is included in the Queen’s Speech in December 2008. We also saw the launch of the consultation on proposals for a Scottish Marine Bill in July. WWF welcomes the Scottish Marine Bill and is working with the Scottish government to help ensure the Marine Bills are compatible.

We need robust Marine Bills to be passed in Westminster and Scotland with appropriate devolved legislation in Wales and Northern Ireland. We now urge the administrations of all four countries to work together to make sure that legislation is coordinated across borders and implemented effectively across the breadth of UK waters.

Why a Marine Bill?
If you are wondering why we need a UK Marine Bill, consider the fact that only 0.001% of UK seas are currently afforded high levels of protection from damaging human activities such as shipping, dredging, commercial fisheries and pollution. If the same percentage of UK land was protected, it would only cover an area the size of London’s Kensington Gardens. It is, quite literally, a drop in the ocean.

Now is a particularly crucial time to safeguard UK seas, as we face the global environmental challenge of climate change as well as the continuing impacts of human activities. UK seas are among the most heavily exploited in the world. By reducing the resilience of our marine ecosystems we are reducing the ocean’s capacity to adapt to climate change.

Protected areas for key species 
Our marine biodiversity faces threats such as rising sea temperatures and acidification because of climate change. At the same time, fisheries and many other human activities are taking their toll. In WWF’s Marine Health Check 2005 – a report which gauges the health of UK’s sea life - 13 out of 16 key species and habitats were found to be in decline or severe decline.

While welcoming the government’s commitment to create a network of marine protected areas covering between 14-20% of UK waters as a huge step forward, we need to be sure that this will provide the necessary protection for vulnerable species and habitats. There is considerable scientific opinion that suggests such a network should cover 20-30% of waters, with some work suggesting as much as 40%. We certainty need our wildlife to be able to adapt to climate change and this will only be possible if we provide the right level of protection.

Many activities – such as oil and gas extraction, cable and pipelines, tourism, fishing and port expansion – continue to take place in our seas. The UK and its seas have the best wind, tidal and wave energy resources in Europe. The Marine Acts, if implemented properly, offer an opportunity to properly manage all our activities at sea for the first time, reducing conflict between different users and avoiding inappropriate development.

Need for the right legislation
In July, a parliamentary committee scrutinising the draft Marine Bill recommended that “Defra makes sure that the published bill commits the Secretary of State and other bodies to action, rather than just enabling change”. WWF also believes that the bill must be strengthened to ensure sustainable development of our seas and sufficient protection for marine wildlife.

The key to this will be the establishment of a new expert marine body - the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). We have waited a long time for a central body that is granted enough powers to oversee a new marine planning system - balancing the needs of sea users and delivering sustainable development across UK seas.

It is crucial that we get the right legislation that balances the needs of the marine ecosystem with those of sea users. It’s difficult to imagine that we would ever allow such environmental degradation to go unnoticed on land. Now is the time to put it right once and for all, and allow our over-exploited marine ecosystems to begin to recover.