Marine Protected Area announcement welcomed by The Wildlife Trusts
Thursday 11th March 2010
But science should hold most authority when making decisions, the organisation says
The Wildlife Trusts have welcomed a ministerial statement made by Huw Irranca-Davies today on the creation of a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
Joan Edwards, head of Living Seas for The Wildlife Trusts, said: “We welcome today’s statement, which reaffirms that the Government is committed to establishing an ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas around the UK. We strongly support all of the network design principles set out in the statement, and we agree that stakeholders should be involved in the allocation of this network. We hope that the forthcoming guidance, which will provide further detail on the application of the the principles announced today, will be as specific as possible. This will help ensure that the regional bodies working to design the MPA networks apply a consistent approach to protecting our seas.
“We're pleased that the Ministerial statement also acknowledges the need for some sites within the network to be highly protected, with all damaging activities excluded. These sites will be free to recover from previous damage, which will enable areas in which wildlife once thrived to be restored to their former glory.”
Joan continued: “This statement is very good news for the UK’s marine wildlife. Our main concern is that the statement fails to assert the primacy of scientific advice over socio-economic considerations when choosing which sites to protect. For the MPA network to be robust, it needs to be based on the best conservation science, not a voting system of sea-users. The Minister has previously confirmed that science will come first, but we would have liked to have seen this in the statement.”
Further information:
• Tanya Perdikou, media & campaigns officer, 01636 670057, tperdikou@wildlifetrusts.org
• Anna Guthrie, media & PR manager, 07887 754659, aguthrie@wildlifetrusts.org
Story by RSWT