Protecting our Marine Environments | Top 5 Things to Consider

So we actually have in the UK about tw- about 38%, um, parks, um, marine protected areas through various mechanisms.

First of all, the Habitats Directive, and then we moved across to the Marine Act to have marine conservation zones.

But of that 38%, they're still in not good ecological status.

Some are in unfavorable status and so, um, both the UK, the different governments or the different devolved agencies as well have been told off recently.

The Scots have recently had the, um, the Environmental Standards Scotland just came out and said that there wasn't enough being done to protect the seabeds around Scotland.

Um, and then last year, the Office for Environmental Protection said again that the marine, um... that a number of different areas of, um, marine protected areas were, were not in good ecol- ecological status either.

Um, so yeah.

So that's, um, that, that's some of the parts of-- w- that I've worked on.

But now moving into energy, um, the energy sector in the UK, I'm doing a project that's in a marine protected area.

I can't say too much because I'm under an NDA, but, um, it's, it's interesting.

It's in unfavorable conservation status and people are still trying to put in infrastructure or decommissioning, and there still isn't enough data out there on that, um, marine protected area that, that we're working on.

And I was quite surprised coming back from the Middle East on that, that, that we don't understand where certain features are or what the monitoring is.

So yeah, um, it, it's not surprising that maybe they don't have a handle on what the status is, but there isn't systematic monitoring of some of those offshore marine protected areas as well.

Interesting.

So we haven't got everything right yet for the marine protected areas or- for the rest of the marine world.

Um, I've learnt, I've learnt things already.

I didn't realize that there were protected marine areas and protected marine environments, is it, and highly protected marine environments.

Um, I'm, I'm intrigued by the difference between something that's protected and something that's highly protected.

Um, w- w- the ratings must be interesting.

[laughs] So, um, when we talk about anything that's protected can be a line on the sea, and sometimes we talk about paper parks.

So they've been protected under legislation, and we've drawn a line, and it's very, very similar to, uh, f- to the national parks.

So I live close to the, to the two in Yorkshire, and you could just put a line and you've driven across it, and it's the same in the sea.

You've sailed across what is a protected area, but they could still be dredging in that park.

They could still be fishing.

Um, they could still be undertaking what are damaging activities within that protected area.

So we actually have in the UK about tw- about 38%, um, parks, um, marine protected areas through various mechanisms.

First of all, the Habitats Directive, and then we moved across to the Marine Act to have marine conservation zones.

But of that 38%, they're still in not good ecological status.

Some are in unfavorable status and so, um, both the UK, the different governments or the different devolved agencies as well have been told off recently.

The Scots have recently had the, um, the Environmental Standards Scotland just came out and said that there wasn't enough being done to protect the seabeds around Scotland.

Um, and then last year, the Office for Environmental Protection said again that the marine, um... that a number of different areas of, um, marine protected areas were, were not in good ecol- ecological status either.

Um, so yeah.

So that's, um, that, that's some of the parts of-- w- that I've worked on.

But now moving into energy, um, the energy sector in the UK, I'm doing a project that's in a marine protected area.

I can't say too much because I'm under an NDA, but, um, it's, it's interesting.

It's in unfavorable conservation status and people are still trying to put in infrastructure or decommissioning, and there still isn't enough data out there on that, um, marine protected area that, that we're working on.

And I was quite surprised coming back from the Middle East on that, that, that we don't understand where certain features are or what the monitoring is.

So yeah, um, it, it's not surprising that maybe they don't have a handle on what the status is, but there isn't systematic monitoring of some of those offshore marine protected areas as well.

Interesting.

So we haven't got everything right yet for the marine protected areas or- for the rest of the marine world.

Um, I've learnt, I've learnt things already.

I didn't realize that there were protected marine areas and protected marine environments, is it, and highly protected marine environments.

Um, I'm, I'm intrigued by the difference between something that's protected and something that's highly protected.

Um, w- w- the ratings must be interesting.

[laughs] So, um, when we talk about anything that's protected can be a line on the sea, and sometimes we talk about paper parks.

So they've been protected under legislation, and we've drawn a line, and it's very, very similar to, uh, f- to the national parks.

So I live close to the, to the two in Yorkshire, and you could just put a line and you've driven across it, and it's the same in the sea.

You've sailed across what is a protected area, but they could still be dredging in that park.

They could still be fishing.

Um, they could still be undertaking what are damaging activities within that protected area.