Marine planning and conservation is a complex topic on all counts. Ian Lamond, of Stephens Scown LLP explains how the European Union is working towards safeguarding the marine environment within the region.
The UK has an incredible 18,000 kilometres of coastline, and the seas surrounding these are home to some of the best marine wildlife in Europe. Many important marine species and habitats are protected through a number of interlocking and sometimes overlapping designations. They include European Marine Sites (also known as Natura 2000 sites), which are Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) (both protecting habitats), and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) (protecting birds). In addition there are RAMSAR sites, protected under the Convention on Wetlands, and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
More recently Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) have also been introduced under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009.
To avoid the risk that Member States of the
Under the draft Maritime Spatial Planning Directive, Member States will have to introduce Marine Spatial Plans (MSPs) and Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) strategies. The ultimate aim of maritime spatial planning, as proposed by the draft Directive, is to identify the utilisation of maritime space for different sea uses through the MSPs. The plans will map existing human activities and identify the most effective future spatial development. The ICM strategies, on the other hand, are intended to ensure the integrated management of these human activities. The intention is that the planning and management of sea-land interactions will be improved.
The draft MSP Directive does not set new environmental policy targets. In this respect it is very different from the objectives of the existing Marine Strategy Framework Directive which sets out a framework for improving protection of the EU’s marine environment by defining the criteria of a good environmental status. Members will be left to tailor the content of the plans and strategies to their specific economic, social and environmental priorities.
The aim of the proposed Directive is simply to establish processes that cover the full cycle of problem identification, information collection, planning, decision-making, management, monitoring and implementation, and stakeholder participation.
The draft Directive is not supposed to add a new layer of regulatory complexity; it is intended only that Member States’ existing systems should be consistent and to the minimum requirements proposed by the Commission. This being so, it may be expected that the operation of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, already introduced in the UK, should not be materially affected. To implement the provisions of the 2009 Act, the Secretary of State in England consulted on proposals for the designation of the MCZs between 13 December, 2012 and 31 March, 2013.
The evidence received is currently being evaluated before Ministers make their final decisions on which sites to designate in the first tranche of proposed MCZs. There is a lot of criticism about the process of designating MCZs, and whether enough areas have been designated in the first tranche, and whether the definition of the zones is sufficiently protected by the planned legal definition of them. The debate is by no means over and it yet remains to be seen whether MCZs will indeed protect the marine environment and safeguard its future to the extent hoped for by environmental bodies.
Nevertheless, the 2009 Act, by establishing the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), in order to provide a consistent and unified approach to all aspects of marine management in the UK, should result in an integrated approach for the regulation of marine activity within the UK consistent with the new Directive. The 2009 Act, by providing for a new marine planning system and by requiring the preparation and adoption of Marine Policy Statements, creates an over-arching national policy framework which in effect has already implemented the requirements of the draft EU Directive. There already exists a scheme in the UK for preparing marine plans and for taking planning decisions that affect marine areas.
The marine plans under the 2009 Act will extend from the land-based mean high water spring tides to the furthest extent of the UK’s marine jurisdiction. The protection afforded for the marine environment is very considerably enhanced, as before the 2009 Act terrestrial planning, which is the responsibility of local authorities, usually extended to mean low water spring tides. But it also means that there will be a physical overlap of the marine and the terrestrial planning system in the area between the mean high water spring tides and the mean low water spring tides. It should not be overlooked that in some areas in the UK the mean high water spring tides extend for several miles inland along the estuaries of tidal rivers. Those areas will be covered both by the relevant marine plans and the relevant local authorities’ development plans.
No doubt marine plans will take into account terrestrial projects that will have an impact upon the marine environment and will consider the impact of marine activities on the coast. However, the precise implications of the different regimes applying both to land-based activity and marine-based activity are obviously yet to be fully worked out.
Ian Lamond is a partner and specialist planning and environmental lawyer at
Ian can be contacted on +44 (0)1872 265100 or email [email protected].
For more information visit www.stephens-scown.co.ukRSS
