The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has expressed its disappointment with the Government's lack of ambition on designated Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and unwillingness to provide adequate investment for the gathering of further evidence for the vulnerable areas.

The Committee’s Marine Protected Areas Revisited report published yesterday has found that MPAs are not being effectively managed. The MPs aere warning that the Government needs to do more to protect vulnerable marine habitats, features and species once a site is designated as an MPA.

The Committee also expressed concern that the Government had moved the goal posts by setting unreasonably high standards of evidence for designating MPAs.

The MPs are calling for Government  action to protect MPAs properly by implementing a "robust and well-coordinated management strategy." The EAC said the Government should also consider investing in aerial and seaborne drones.

The Report is recommending that the Government should:

• Adopt a precautionary principle approach to Tranche 3 site selection and designations.
• Put in place strong monitoring and surveillance regimes to deter illegal activity.
• Commit to establishing highly protected reference areas within the MPA network.
• Provide support to the UK Overseas Territories to help them properly detect and deter illegal activities.
• Provide its assessment of any additional budget and resources that will be provided to the Marine Management Organisation and the Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities to enable them effectively to manage the third tranche of Marine Conservation Zones and Marine Protected Areas

Concerns about DEFRA's handling of MPAs

The Committee also found a number of concerns about the Department for Environment Food, and Rural Affairs’ handling of MPAs, on a range of issues, including:

• The slow progress made in designating Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs). Only 50 MCZs have been designated so far — well short of the 127 sites originally recommended by the regional projects in 2011.
• The Committee was shocked and disappointed by the Government’s decision to exclude highly protected reference areas from the Third Tranche of MCZs before the Government received expert evidence on the subject.
• The delays in creating a well-coordinated and ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas. There are still a number of gaps remaining , particularly for sites to protect sand, mud and highly mobile species
• The Government’s unwillingness to provide adequate investment for the gathering of further evidence for the vulnerable areas.

Government’s communications strategy on MPAs in both the UK and UK Overseas Territories is "still ineffective and unsatisfactory"

The Report describes the Government’s communications strategy in both the UK and the UK Overseas Territories as "still ineffective and unsatisfactory", despite the EAC's predecessor Committee raising this as a concern in 2014. The lack of progress on this issue is self-defeating, as poor communication continues to make the process of designation and enforcement unnecessarily contentious, the Report says.

Introducing the report, Mary Creagh MP, Chair of Environmental Audit Committee said:

"It is worrying and disappointing the Government have still not got their act together on assigning the vulnerable Marine Protected Areas. The Government needs to focus on monitoring and protecting the current areas rather than moving the goal posts to create unachievable and over complicated demands on the management of susceptible areas. Without effective management, surveillance or monitoring our MPAs are just paper parks.”

"The Government needs to put firm plans in place to stop further degradation of our vulnerable ecological systems, before they are destroyed forever."

In the Committee’s view it is clear that few people were aware of the potential benefits of Marine Protected Areas which create significant opportunities and benefits for marine habitats and wildlife. The Government must implement a robust communications strategy to raise awareness of the MPA network amongst businesses and the general public, the EAC says.

Click here to download the full report.