These regional MCZ projects work with sea users and interest groups to identify MCZs and provide recommendations for sites within their regions to Government. The MCZ project has been established by Defra, Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee to identify and recommend MCZs to Government.
MCZs together with other types of Marine Protected Area (MPA) will make up an ecologically coherent network of MPAs. This means the UK MPA network will be a collection of areas that work together to provide more benefits than an individual area could on its own. Find out more about the UK MPA network.
Defra has set up a Science Advisory Panel, an independent body comprised of expert marine scientists, which will support the four regional projects in the MCZ selection process by offering objective scientific assessment of site proposals, and independent advice to Ministers.
A UK Marine Protected Areas Stakeholder Forum has been established to support the current MPA identification processes occurring throughout the UK. The forum aims to co-ordinate and disseminate the views of national and international stakeholders, the devolved administrations and their conservation advisers. It is an advisory, not a decision-making group with respect to the individual MPA projects and could cover any aspects of Marine Protected Areas in the UK, including Marine Conservation Zones. For more information please visit the JNCC website.
