Marine Protected Areas

(asked on 20th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on (a) the Government's proposals for Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) and (b) proposed locations for HPMAs.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 28th July 2021

On 8 June 2021, the Government published its response to the Benyon Review into Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs). The Government accepted the central recommendation to take forward pilot sites with the purpose of biodiversity recovery.

The response to the Benyon Review was agreed across Government. Defra officials met with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) during the Benyon Review and when preparing the Government response. The response states that HPMAs will be outside of routine defence exercise areas, and the selection of sites will consider the ability of an activity or sector to adapt to the location of a HPMA.

The Government is developing ecological, social and economic criteria for HPMA identification to create a list of potential sites this year, followed by a consultation and designation of sites in 2022. Defra will engage the MoD and other Government departments on the potential list of sites when it becomes available.

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