Marine and Coastal Access Bill [Lords]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I intend to mention the subject briefly later in my speech. The marine management organisation should be the true marine champion, fully and equally engaged with all marine sectors and interests. Its role must be a proactive one as a statutory adviser to the infrastructure planning commission, with a remit to further sustainable development. We must accept that we can no longer push the marine environment beyond its limits or capacity to absorb man's abuses and exploitation of the sea. The proposed IPC must have a statutory duty to seek and take account of the advice of the MMO on all applications for nationally significant infrastructure projects that are likely to impact upon the marine environment. An obvious example is the Severn barrage mentioned by my hon. Friend. That would cause a fundamental change to the unique nature of the Severn estuary and the wildlife there. The IPC must be required to give details of the reasons for decisions made and specify how the advice provided by the MMO has influenced its decisions. Only then can there be the transparency that we need. I have a number of concerns relating to marine conservation zones. The priority of the Bill is that it should deliver a better framework for marine nature conservation which, as everyone has agreed, currently lags behind land-based conservation. The Government have a commitment under the world summit on sustainable development to establish a representative network of marine protection areas by 2012, and they have the same commitment under the OSPAR convention to do so by 2010. The proposals for the main conservation zones are welcome steps towards achieving that commitment, but there is a clear need to create an ecologically coherent network of such zones. I welcome the addition of clause 123(6) to (8), requiring Ministers both to prepare a statement setting out the principles that they will follow when developing the UK network of marine protection areas, and to lay that statement before the appropriate legislature, along with further details on the principles of ecological coherence in the explanatory notes to the Bill as published in the Commons. If we are to tackle the threats to marine biodiversity, marine plans covering all UK waters must be developed and based on ecosystems, not on administrative boundaries. That is clearly a role for the statutory nature conservation bodies, but steps can be taken to strengthen the marine conservation zones so that the Bill delivers the most robust protection for UK sea life and sea birds. Like other speakers, I am concerned that the social and economic consequences of designating a site can be taken into account when making a decision about whether to designate. Many speakers have made that point, and I shall not take it further, but regional or even local socio-economic considerations must not be allowed to override national and international conservation objectives. Marine conservation zones must be identified using sound scientific and ecological criteria alone. If a site is important to biodiversity, it should be recognised and designated. If we do not make that change, we will find it almost impossible to designate a coherent and comprehensive network of protected areas. If we keep the measure in the Bill, we are likely to end up with a few sparse conservation zones in leftover areas of the sea to which no other social or economic interest group has laid claim. That will not be sufficient to protect our marine wildlife. My right hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley) talked about socio-economic interests having a place, and I agree, but they should be considered in the latter stages when developing site management. That is how the process works for protected sites on land. Many organisations are concerned that the Bill does not mention highly protected sites. My hon. Friend the Minister will be aware that in Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government have announced their intention to designate highly protected marine reserves to improve marine protection in territorial waters. I am hopeful that the UK Government will make the same commitment. A clear reference in the Bill to the network of marine protected areas, including some highly protected sites, would make stakeholders aware that the sites were a protection measure for marine wildlife and habitats, and, equally importantly, ensure that future Governments were not able to step back from the great intentions of this Government. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has produced a report highlighting more than 70 sites of national importance—around the UK and in the waters adjacent to breeding seabird colonies—that should be designated as conservation zones. These include the waters around Flat Holm in the Bristol channel, which are important for lesser black-backed gulls. I should welcome an assurance from the Minister that such sites will be provided with full protection. Research by Bangor university, which is renowned for its department of marine biology, suggests that anywhere between 14 and 20 per cent. of our seas must be protected to ensure that the UK meets its biodiversity targets. It may not be suitable to stipulate a specific figure in the Bill, but I should welcome the Minister's confirmation of how he plans to ensure that we do not simply aim for, or end up with, the minimum protection required. It is a matter of great concern that the Bill does not provide any duty towards sustainable inshore fisheries management in Wales—in contrast to the detailed provisions set out for England, where inshore fisheries and conservation authorities will be the new management bodies. A specific responsibility for sustainable fisheries management and the promotion of marine conservation zones should be placed on Welsh Ministers, along with a commitment to report to the National Assembly in order to create long-lasting certainty and a trail of accountability. The Bill presents the one opportunity for such a legal and lasting commitment, as the National Assembly has no power to lay down such duties. Wales must not be left with a lower standard of certainty and accountability for fisheries management than England. I am fortunate in that my constituency contains the Glamorgan heritage coast and the Newton dunes local nature reserve to the east of the coastal resort of Porthcawl, where I live, Locks Common local nature reserve in the heart of the resort, and Kenfig national nature reserve and the European Union special area for conservation to the west. Along our coast, the public can watch thousands of Manx shearwaters, fulmars and gannets, as well as seals and harbour porpoises. We must ensure that that coast is accessible to people with disabilities as well as the able-bodied, so that they too are allowed to enjoy the new opportunities for exploration. The waters around Wales and the rest of Britain are a unique and special environment, hosting internationally important populations of species of seabird and other marine wildlife. It is therefore essential for the Bill to deliver not just adequate protection, but the best protection possible.