Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

I shall speak to the amendments in my name in this group: Amendments A115 to A117, A119, A149 and A150, and A151 and A152. That sounds like rather a lot, but they achieve only a small number of outcomes. First, I apologise for not being in my place earlier when a number of my amendments came up, and for having to leave immediately after this group. If it is not unparliamentary language, Sod’s Law and multitasking are working against me at the moment. The Minister may be deeply grateful for that: I think he feels that we ought to be moving faster, and the fewer people who contribute to the Bill, the better. The purpose of my Amendments to Clauses 113 and 119 are to make sure that there is a duty to designate marine conservation zones, not just a power—and that, in doing so, an ecologically coherent network is created, not just a network of marine protected areas. I would endorse much of what was said earlier on this part of the Bill. As the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, said, this is the Bill’s centrepiece on conservation. The Government’s response to the Joint Committee’s report proposed that there would be a duty conferred on the Secretary of State and the Welsh Ministers to designate marine conservation zones, ""in order to contribute to an ecologically coherent network of sites which will include highly protected sites"." That commitment appears to have failed on all three counts: there is no duty, the Bill does not mention ecological coherence, and it does not mention the issue of highly protected sites—so it is nought out of three for the Government there. The Bill is a bit ambiguous, as in Clause 113 it refers to a power. I therefore understand that to mean that the slightly stronger wording in Clause 119 only elaborates on how that power is to be exercised; it does not lay a duty to declare and designate marine conservation zones. I hope that the Minister will accept that, since the Command Paper in response to the Joint Committee indicated that would be the case, and that he will give way on some of these amendments. The noble Lord, Lord Eden, talked about the slightly idiosyncratic groupings. I know that one should comment in advance on groupings, but having arrived in mid-flow I fear I was unable to. However, I believe that my Amendments A156 and A158 would perhaps have been better grouped with these, because the second objective of my amendments—Amendment A152, in particular—is to elaborate on what an ecologically coherent network of sites might be. There are three parameters. First, the network should be representative, to include the full range of marine features: species, habitats and ecosystems. Secondly, it should embody the principle of replication, meaning that each feature should be represented in a number of sites—so that not all of your eggs, as it were, are in one basket—and that the sites are big enough and ranged widely enough that if there is the risk of damage, for a whole variety of natural and non-natural reasons, it is likely that those species and habitats will, nevertheless, remain protected in some element. Thirdly, on connectivity, the whole principle of having an ecologically coherent network is that it allows species to move between its elements to replicate their natural life cycle, and to allow dispersal, migration and regeneration. Although the Bill mentions representation and replication, it is light on connectivity. My Amendment A158, which is in the next group, would come in there. Amendment A151 is also about the issue of ecological coherence and the types of sites that the network needs to include. As drafted, the list includes marine conservation zones and any European marine sites under the Natura 2000 designation, but omits two important sets of sites: Ramsar sites—I note that the amendment misspells it as "Ransar"—which are protected under the international convention on wetlands, and sites of special scientific interest in marine areas. All of those designated sites ought to be included in the marine conservation zone network to ensure ecological coherence. I have now covered all of those amendments, but I will pass on my regrets—although, in parliamentary terms, I want to misbehave here—that, alas, when my Amendment A135A on socio-economic conditions comes up, I will not be here to speak to it. However, there is no doubt about it; if one were trying to create an ecologically coherent network of sites, simply striking a few out from time to time on the grounds that they are of socio-economic importance will almost certainly mean that we will be in no position to get one. I have now managed to speak to my Amendment A135A, without necessarily having broken the parliamentary conventions of taking it out of order.