Friday 4 April 2008

- but effective Marine Act must appear on the statute book by 2009

Norfolk Wildlife Trust welcomes the publication of a draft Marine Bill as an important step towards restoring the health of the UK’s seas.

Director of Norfolk Wildlife Trust Brendan Joyce said: "With this draft Bill, we’ve finally laid the foundations for the protection of our seas. The Wildlife Trusts have campaigned for many years for new laws to bring marine conservation into the 21st century and we are delighted that the Government has published a draft Bill. The draft contains numerous measures we have lobbied for, including Marine Conservation Zones and new controls on inshore fisheries."

Norfolk Wildlife Trust is pleased that the UK Government has recognised the need for fundamental change in the way we manage our seas. Norfolk is a coastal county and our coast and seas are under great pressure, despite having some protection under the Wash and North Norfolk European Marine Site and proposed offshore protected areas. In addition to inshore fisheries, Norfolk has a number of ports associated with the oil and gas industries, and seas close to the Norfolk coast are subject to major off-shore wind farm proposals. As a result, NWT has sought to raise marine and coastal conservation issues locally with policy makers and with our members.  We see the Marine Bill as a major opportunity to significantly improve protection of our marine wildlife and marine cultural heritage.

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