from Sharon Thompson, Senior Marine Policy Officer
Today the UK Government published a summary of the responses to the consultation on Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in English waters that was carried out at the start of the year, along with a statement to Parliament from the Minister, Richard Benyon.
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) received over 40,000 responses from the public to this consultation, including from the RSPB and other wildlife organisations that were keen to ensure as many sites important for wildlife were designated as the result of this consultation. We also know that many RSPB supporters also responded – thank you for your help and support!
Unfortunately today’s announcements don’t make encouraging reading!
Disappointingly, it has confirmed that sites won’t be designated until sometime after September and there was no information on next steps for additional protected sites. Not the urgency or clarity that we were calling for following our hand-in to 10 Downing Street of over 350,000 pledges calling for urgent designation of MCZs and a commitment to a timetable for further sites (see our blog from June).
Even more depressing is the news that MCZs for “mobile species” such as dolphins and basking sharks, are still being rejected with an emphasis being put on protection via “sectoral measures (such as fisheries management, by-catch mitigation measures, and protected species licensing)”. This is despite a report that clarified that protected sites do benefit mobile species in those places (e.g. at nursery grounds) and times of the year (important feeding areas during the breeding season) when they aggregate.
Specifically in the case of seabirds, MCZs are not going to be considered for areas important for nationally important populations of seabirds until all the sites of international importance (i.e. Special Protection Areas under the EU Birds Directive) have been designated and then assessed to see whether there are any gaps! This is both a poor excuse and a poor use of resources – the identification of sites of both national and international importance would be much more efficient if done in parallel!
It looks as if we have a long road ahead of us before seabirds and other sealife get the protection they so badly need. Hopefully the forthcoming consultation on Marine Protected Areas in Scottish seas will be a better example of how governments should protect marine wildlife!