24/11/2005
- Act now or jeopardise our seas is the warning from the
Environment Agency. Dr Helen
Phillips, Director of Environment Agency Wales, confirms:
"Our coasts and seas are under pressure. Fish stocks
are decreasing. The climate is warming up and marine ecosystems
are changing in response".
Tomorrow (Wednesday), Dr Helen Phillips
will be joined by Morgan Parry, Head of WWF Cymru, and
Carwyn Jones AM, Minister for Environment, Planning and
Countryside, at the National Assembly for Wales to formally
launch our first Marine Strategy – ‘Cleaner Coasts, Healthier
Seas: Working for a Better Marine Environment – Our strategy
for 2005-2011’. The Marine Strategy sets out our agenda
for action over the next five years.
We'll also be publishing a 'State
of our Marine Environment of England & Wales' report
which provides the scientific foundation for the Strategy
and will guide our future work given the pressures on
the marine environment.
Key findings of our State of the Marine
Environment England & Wales report are:
80% of global marine pollution comes
from the land and 1 in 4 coastal waters in England &
Wales are at risk from diffuse pollution
About one third of all estuarine habitats in Britain have
been lost to land reclamation since Roman times due to
pressure from commercial development and human activities
No sites in Wales and few in England now fail water quality
standards for dangerous substances
Over the past 40 years, warmer seas have forced some marine
plants and animals to move North towards Scandinavia,
roughly the length of Britain
The estimated costs of damage from coastal and river flooding
are currently about £1 billion a year. The flooding
of coastal areas could increase between 4 and 10 times
as a result of climate change unless there is adequate
future investment in flood risk management
North Sea oil and gas production is forecast to fall by
about a third by 2010. New import facilities for liquid
natural gas are planned at Milford Haven.
Dr Helen Philips continued: "To meet these challenges
we need to strike a much better balance between the different
uses of our coasts and seas to protect the marine environment.
"While we have seen improvements
- such as the best results ever this year with all bathing
waters in Wales meeting EU standards - our challenges
are changing and much remains to be done.
"This is why we have produced
our first Marine strategy. It sets out how the Environment
Agency can play a leading role to protect the environment
through our duties which span land and sea, and range
from promoting recreation to managing flood risk and controlling
pollution," she said.
Environment Agency Wales supports
the Welsh Assembly Government in helping achieve their
proposed 'aim' for the marine environment and supports
their involvement with the Marine Bill, so we can replace
today’s piecemeal approach to management of the seas and
coast by introducing:
a system of marine spatial planning
clear, allocated responsibilities for managing and regulating
activities in the marine environment
effective measurements to strengthen the links between
the management of our coasts and seas
"However, we can’t do it alone. We can only protect
our marine environment if we work together with Governments,
other regulators and coastal communities to develop new
ways of management", Dr Helen Phillips said. |