Coastal and Marine National Parks

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at 3:10 pm on 26 October 2006.

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Photo of Richard Lochhead Richard Lochhead Scottish National Party 3:10, 26 October 2006

The marine environment is moving up the political agenda. The European Union is consulting on its maritime strategy, the United Kingdom Government is preparing a marine bill, the Scottish Government's marine strategy is developing and there is now a proposal for a coastal and marine national park.

The whole chamber agrees that our marine environment should be taken extremely seriously, because Scotland is a marine nation. Scotland accounts for 25 per cent of Europe's waters. We have 10,000km of coastline, which represents 80 per cent of the UK's coastline. We have a superb marine environment that supports myriad species and habitats that we want to protect. Our marine environment represents 50 per cent of Scotland's biodiversity and it is part of the wonderful landscape of this country.

We need prosperous coastal communities and healthy seas because our economy relies heavily on the industries and activities around our coast. Traditionally, we have obtained food from our seas. Our fishermen make their living from the seas, as do the onshore fishing sectors—fish processors, harbour services and so on. In recent decades, we have used our seas for trade, transportation, recreation and extracting oil and gas to meet our energy needs. There are now new demands on the seas around Scotland: aquaculture, renewable energy production, marine wildlife tourism and many other opportunities. We continue to find new benefits from Scotland's marine environment. We must all agree that the Parliament has a prime duty to protect and promote our seas and coastal communities.

Although the SNP has no objection in principle to the concept of coastal and marine national parks, we do not believe that they have a role to play at this stage. The minister has failed to persuade us and the people of Scotland that there is a demand for coastal and marine national parks in Scotland, especially from the people who matter—those who live in our coastal communities. Given the minister's half-hearted consultation exercise and the wording of the motion, we are not convinced that even he is persuaded that there is a need for such parks at this stage. We believe that the minister should spend his time and energy on more pressing priorities that coastal communities in Scotland face. We also believe that, currently, the management of our marine resources is a dog's breakfast. The last thing that Scotland's coastal communities and our seas need is yet another layer of bureaucracy and yet another body with a say over our marine environment.

Let us consider the demand for coastal and marine parks. I looked at information sheet 1 of the minister's consultation document to find out from where in Scotland the demand for such parks is coming. Under the heading "Where has this proposal come from?" the minister states:

"This consultation took place during 2004 as part of the Scottish Executive's consultation on Developing a Strategic Framework for Scotland's Marine Environment. Taking into account the responses to this consultation, the Minister for Environment and Rural Development announced on 15 June 2005 the Executive's intention to proceed towards the establishment of Scotland's first Coastal and Marine National Park by 2008."

I asked the Parliament's research service to examine the responses to the consultation in 2004. There were 834 responses, of which 730 were postcard or e-mail contacts organised by WWF. There were 104 substantive responses, of which only 50 addressed the questions posed by ministers on coastal and marine national parks. Only 25 of the 50 people in Scotland who responded to those questions supported the establishment of coastal and marine national parks. Twenty-five out of 834 responses—3 per cent of the total—called for the establishment of such parks.