The project is a key element of the Government's Marine Stewardship initiative to protect and manage the marine environment better. Marine spatial planning has also been advocated by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and the Review of Marine Nature Working Group in its recommendations to Government.

A consortium of marine environment research bodies and planning specialists including ABP Marine Environmental Research, Terence O'Rourke, Risk & Policy Analysts, Geotek, Hartley Anderson, and Coastal Management for Sustainability will undertake a review, engage stakeholders, and assess the practicality of introducing a system of spatial marine planning for the UK.

DEFRA has suggested a definition of a marine spatial plan as 'a strategic plan for regulating, managing and protecting the marine environment that addresses the multiple, cumulative and potentially conflicting uses of the sea.'

Practical issues to be addressed in the pilot include the availability of marine data, how sea areas could be zoned, how the land-surface interface is best addressed, how stake holders should best be engaged and what arrangements are needed to review and update the plan.

The pilot project will include a peer review of international projects and material on marine spatial planning and other relevant initiatives, including the applicability of land use planning concepts to the marine environment. It will also involve the development of a simulated plan for part of the Irish Sea, building on the work undertaken for the recent DEFRA-led Review of Marine Nature Conservation.

A number of regional workshops will be held next year as part of the plan making process and information on the project will be made widely available. The pilot project is due for completion towards the end of this year.

MJ Information No: 20329