A national park under The Channel

By Matthew Wheeler
Inside Out, BBC South East

Join divers under the English Channel as work starts on developing a 'national park' of the sea.

Underneath the grey waters of the English Channel, a revolution in wildlife protection is on its way.

The concept consists of underwater reserves off the Kent coast designed to protect the marine wildlife that lives under the sea, as England's seas are amongst the most biodiverse in Europe.

The concept is a national park of the sea, with key zones where legislation protects fish, birds, plant life and geology. It comes as part of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, which is now on its way to the Lords.

It is the question of where those zones should be, and what limitations they should impose on others, which injects potential tension into the idea.

Complex task

The job of achieving agreement is complex. Many have a claim upon the sea. Shipping lines, wind farm developers and fishermen, to name just a few, have to make a living from the waters of the English Channel.

"There is a huge nervousness about it but there is nothing pre-conceived about how the sites will be selected," said Sue Wells, project manager for Balanced Seas , based at the University of Kent in Canterbury.

She has the task of putting together a group representing "anyone who has an interest in the sea". Widespread consultation with all the interested, and sometimes competing, groups is a key part of that.

Divers' work will help protect British wildlife

Sue Wells says that in a town like Whitstable, for example, there are numerous different groups who will all want a say. "We have people who enjoy marine waters for their holidays, sailors and boaters. Then, in the south east we've also got a lot of industrial uses of the sea such as wind farms, renewable energy, and a lot of marine dredging, which is all extremely important. We want to work with all of them to ensure the areas they need to use don't conflict too much with where Marine Conservation Zones need to go."

The approach Sue and her colleagues will be using is similar to the approach already used in California. "We're taking the methods that they used there," said Sue. "And they've been very successful in putting in some marine protected areas there that have got the agreement of all the people who use the area.

"There are lots of Marine Protected Areas around the world which you can't really enforce, which don't really fulfil their purpose because people haven't agreed to them. We're now taking on a completely new approach where we're going to get the people who actually use the sea and make use of the marine environment in general to make the decisions", she said.

Balanced Seas are looking at the whole of the area marked with green stripes

"What s different about this is that there is a way that people can sit around the table and talk," she said.

The talking starts at the end of November, when meetings across the South East will set up groups of stakeholders who will look at the sensitive areas off the coast and decide what, if anything, should be done to extend their protection.

Fair welcome

So far, there has been a fair welcome for the concept from many interested groups. Last June a survey by the Co-op found that 83% of 360,000 customers surveyed supported the idea of marine reserves.

For business, the Seabed User and Development Group , which represents businesses such as ports, aggregate firms and wind power suppliers, has said it "wholeheartedly support the principles" of the Bill.

Coastal Path

Back on shore, there is another part of the bill that has proved perhaps more controversial. It plans the establishment of a coastal path that will go all the way around the UK.

Red areas show where there is no public access along the Kent coast

A recent survey by Natural England showed that in the South East, on the coast from Yarmouth in Hampshire to Gravesend in Kent, around 37% was not publicly accessible.

To people like the Ramblers Association, that is a long-held dream. "We are really happy with it. A continued coastal path is what we have been pushing for," said a spokesperson.

But to coastal landowners, it is not as palatable. The Country Land and Business Association say only eight percent of the coast is inaccessible and question whether the legislation is justified.

"Research shows what the public really wants is for the existing access to be enhanced," said CLA President Henry Aubrey-Fletcher.

If the Marine Bill becomes law, then the first Marine Protection Zones could be in place by December 2012.