Marine Protected Areas
(asked on 8th November 2024) - View Source
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the number of highly protected marine areas in the UK.
Answered by
Emma Hardy
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
The Government is committed to effectively protecting 30% of our land and sea by 2030. There are 181 Marine Protected Areas, including three Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), covering over 40% of English waters.
We are currently focusing on implementing management measures to ensure these three HPMAs receive the high level of protection needed and will consider next steps on HPMAs in due course.