10th Report - Marine Protected Areas Revisited

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government responds to the Committee's recommendations on marine protected areas by setting out its approach to a third tranche of Marine Conservation Zones, to management and monitoring, and to the Overseas Territories, agreeing on speed of designation while stressing the need for an adequate evidence base.

• On the third tranche, it expects to consult "in the next year" with the aim of completing its contribution to an ecologically coherent network of MPAs "by 2019".
• On evidence, it says there "needs to be certainty that the feature is present on the site and of its extent" for designation, and "We will not make rushed decisions".
• On funding and monitoring, it says funding is "a decision for Ministers" and options after EU exit "are under consideration". Further investment in monitoring systems "will be for regulators to consider".
• On mobile species, it says further MCZs for them "will be the exception rather than the rule", as other measures "are likely to provide better conservation".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error