UK
UK Marine Act campaign
WWF is pressing for new legislation to protect the UK’s marine environment, and manage the growing pressure placed on them by human activities. These include fishing, oil and gas exploration, renewable energy schemes, leisure activities and shipping.
The UK’s 20,000km of coastline has incredibly diverse coastal and marine habitats. These range from sheltered lagoons and coves, deep sea lochs and muddy estuaries to wave-lashed rocky coasts and deep waters off the edge of the continental shelf.
Sadly, we are currently relying on a complicated mishmash of laws to manage the growing pressures of human activity in UK seas. A multitude of organisations and (sometimes conflicting and contradictory) laws and policies govern the various activities in the sea around the UK. For example, separate laws exist for wind farms, port development and fisheries.
To protect UK seas, we need Marine Acts for the UK and Scotland with appropriate devolved legislation to manage our marine environment sustainably.
WWF has identified six key issues that the government must address in its forthcoming Marine Bills:
- a proper planning system for the sea
- a network of marine protected areas
- promoting the ecosystem approach to managing the marine environment – considering the needs of the whole marine ecosystem, rather than focusing on individual activities such as fishing or energy exploration
- better fisheries management
- effective governance through a new Marine Management Organisation
- renewables and climate change action supported through new marine legislation.
The Marine Bills are a once in a lifetime opportunity for our management of the seas to be improved and to help secure sustainable use of our seas for future generations.
More about the issue
- In 2005 WWF published a Marine Health Check report to gauge the health of the UK’s sea life. This revealed that 13 out of 16 key marine species and habitats were in decline in UK waters.
- To date, estimates show that nearly a quarter of the UK’s sea bed has been affected by human actions such as trawling and other industrial activities.
- Currently, only around 2% of the UK’s sea area has any level of legal protection. There is only one UK No Take Zone (Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel) where fishermen have agreed to limit their activities to restore fish stocks and marine wildlife, and just three marine nature reserves (Skomer Island in Wales, Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland and Lundy Island in England) which provide legal protection from damaging activities.
- Maritime activities contribute around 5% of UK GDP in direct economic benefits. UK seas also provide many indirect benefits such as climate regulation, nutrient cycling, leisure and tourism.
- The UK government is committed to international agreements and laws to regulate marine activities and to protect wildlife. These include a commitment to achieve a reduction in biodiversity loss by 2010 (under the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the Convention on Biological Diversity). The UK aims to establish a network of protected areas by 2012. There are also several EU Directives relating to the protection of the marine environment; in particular, the Marine Strategy Directive requires the UK to achieve “good environmental status” in its seas by 2020.
- As part of the EU energy targets (which set out proposals to achieve a reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions of 20% by 2020) the UK government has its own national target of generating 15% of energy from renewable sources. The seas provide significant opportunities for wind, wave and tidal energy generation – but development must be located sensitively to minimise damage to the marine environment.