The UK Marine and Coastal Access Bill was granted Royal Assent yesterday (12th November), meaning that it has now become law. It has taken many years of work by the ecological and environmental community, but a network of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) will now be created in UK seas. We would like to thank all our members who contributed their considerable scientific expertise and advice to our work on this Bill.

Looking forwards, much work is now underway to identify where MCZs should be located. To coincide with the Bill’s enactment, the Marine Conservation Society has launched a new website with an interactive map showing the location and characteristics of 73 sites which they believe merit full protection. Members of the public are invited to vote for the sites which they believe should become reserves; the results will be presented to the regional bodies charged with making recommendations to the Government. Readers with marine expertise may also be interested in the facility which allows them to nominate their own sites for protection.

To vote for the protection of specific marine areas, visit: http://www.yourseasyourvoice.com/mpa/

If you would like to read a review of all the changes which have been made to the Bill during its passage through Parliament, please visit here.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 3:26 pm and is filed under Government, Marine, Marine Act, Marine Bill, UK. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.