Action needed to preserve Britain’s seascapes

The Government must recognise Britain’s coasts and seascapes as being more than just a view, campaign groups insist.

More than sixty years after laws were passed to protect Britain’s landscapes, the National Trust, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, have urged the Government to extend the same protection to the nation’s seascapes.

They said that last month’s UK Marine Policy Statement heralded the beginning of a marine planning system across the UK, but raised concerns that the statement did not give enough prominence to seascapes. They have published a joint manifesto for coast and seascapes.

“As an island nation it does seem strange that it’s taken us more than six decades to start thinking about how we protect our seascapes,” said Phil Dyke, coast and marine adviser at the National Trust.

Three of the key actions included in the joint manifesto included:

• Recognising coasts and seascapes as a key resource in the marine environment, and acknowledge the contribution they make to the health and well being of the nation, and its economy;
• Identify the character and distinctiveness of Britain’s coasts and seascapes by requiring character assessments from national agencies; and
• Identify areas that are of national importance and ways they can be conserved by the planning process.
   

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