Scottish Government

A STRATEGY FOR SCOTLAND'S COAST AND INSHORE WATERS

3. HOME TRUTHS AND LESSONS FROM ELSEWHERE

If we are aiming for the best in coastal zone management for Scotland, we need to review experience to date and consider examples of good practice - from both the UK and abroad.

3.1 EXPERIENCE OF ICZM IN SCOTLAND

Perhaps the first attempt at introducing ICZM in Scotland came in response to increasing pressure for aquaculture development in the Highlands in the 1980s. In the absence of a formal system for planning below low water mark, and faced with the need to guide development and advise on siting of individual fish farms, Highland Regional Council started to produce fish-farming framework plans in 1987-88. These early documents had to be produced quickly and by today's standards look very rough-and-ready but they served the purpose. Since the late 1990s the concept has been developed further by the Highland Council in a series of Aquaculture Framework (AFPs) plans which have been generally well received. Whilst these plans have focused on the planning and management of one particular sector, they have taken into account the needs of the others. They have involved wide consultation and sought a mutually acceptable balance of interests. The experience of preparing even the early plans suggested that this simple, non-statutory planning framework was worthwhile and certainly better than no local policy framework at all. Also it was felt that in time there would be scope to extend the approach to cover a broader range of coastal uses. This broader approach is now being trialled in Wester Ross as part of the Interreg 3B Atlantic Coast project.

The AFPs are essentially a local planning tool and the format of the Highland plans (eg their scale of approach and their linear policy zones) has evolved to deal essentially with single large sea lochs and near-shore activities. Larger, more open areas of coastal waters, with activities being undertaken further from shore, represent a different type of challenge which merits more of an area-zoning approach. This is a challenge which several local authorities in the Highlands and Islands are now aiming to address for the first time, in conjunction with the relevant agencies.

Local coastal management partnerships started in Scotland in the early 1990s with an impetus from the Earth Summit in Rio and the UK's commitment to develop integrated management strategies for a number of firths by 1998. SNH's "Focus on Firths" Project provided financial and administrative support to begin with and EU funding played an important role for some projects. Between 1998 and 2001 seven strategies were published and now many have moved to an implementation phase. Some partnerships have also undergone a review of their achievements and role with due regard to the funding available.

In March 1996 the Government launched "Scotland's Coasts - a dicussion paper". One of the proposals was to set up a national forum, and with widespread support, the Scottish Coastal Forum was set up by Government with independent Chairmanship. Since then the SCF has produced a number of documents and research papers on national coastal issues.

TABLE 1: EXAMPLES OF COASTAL MANAGEMENT GROUPS IN SCOTLAND

The recent research project undertaken by ITAD and BMT Cordah investigated in detail a number of the local coastal partnerships and the main findings are summarised below:

• the voluntary partnership has been an effective mechanism to progress ICZM to its current state in Scotland. It is unlikely that any other mechanism could have achieved stakeholder involvement and strategy planning as effectively as the partnership. The partnerships have achieved this on limited funding and the support of a core of dedicated partners;

• the partnerships have yet to complete what is considered one programme management cycle. The evidence is that the partnerships are becoming less effective as they progress round this cycle;

• linking the partnerships objectives to a coherent set of national objectives will help to give them direction. In addition effective partnerships require financial support and policy support and the status these confer, as well as the backing of those stakeholders who hold statutory powers for the coastal zone;

• it is worth pursuing these changes and voluntary partnerships should continue to be supported as the preferred ICZM delivery method.

The report looked into the delivery of ICZM and stated that this is a complex task. With the partnerships in general moving out of the strategy planning role and into co-ordination and implementation of actions there is now a requirement for an agreement between the stakeholders on how this is done, many of whose expectations differ.

The report also put forward a series of strategic and operational level recommendations and a number of strategic recommendations are listed below:

• partnerships should not be given powers of statute over the coastal zone - it would undermine those functions they deliver successfully, especially bringing together stakeholders together in an independent and neutral forum;

• Government should commission a review to identify the gaps, overlaps and contradictions in present statute and then modify them accordingly;

• the partnerships need to be more effective in influencing the plans, policies and behaviour of stakeholders. SCF should be re-tasked to go beyond its present co-ordination and clearing house role to be the contact point and lead organisation for national scale influencing.

SAC MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

The management strategies which have been (or are being) prepared for marine Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) are in a category similar to the AFP's. They focus on a particular sector but they are usually spatial plans which have to take account of a wide range of other marine and coastal interests. They are driven essentially by the need to successfully integrate new nature conservation designations into areas which have an established pattern of use. They often therefore have to deal with suspicion or resistance from some established marine stakeholders. However, the process of developing these strategies and resolving conflicts of interest along the way has been important in that it has involved local communities and stakeholders working together systematically to prepare plans for the marine area for the first time. There are now 14 sites in Scotland where management groups have produced, or are starting to develop, management schemes.

In most cases, the process for developing the schemes begins with definition of the conservation objectives for the site and assessment of the various activities which may impact on it. The process has to be sensitive to community needs and as far as possible has to identify positive spin-offs if it is to have a realistic chance of implementation Management measures are normally agreed on a voluntary basis, with legislation only used as a last resort. In most cases, spatial planning has been used to identify zones where specific activities may take place (perhaps with certain restrictions on timing or techniques), depending on the level of risk to the features of interest.

The SAC management schemes have generally been fairly successful at achieving a joint plan. This may be due to the limited area and range of issues under consideration; the prospect of more formal status if voluntary agreement cannot be reached; and the use of spatial planning to clarify acceptable zones of operation. Along the way there have been good opportunities for innovation and public awareness raising, eg the use of ROVs and diver surveys to provide underwater video footage and photographs of hitherto unseen areas, or practical involvement of local fishermen in survey work.

IRISH SEA PILOT PROJECT

A proposed framework for marine nature conservation, developed as part of Defra's Review of Marine Nature Conservation, envisaged the need to take action at a range of scales. These scales were i) the Wider Sea ii) the Regional Sea iii) Marine Landscapes and iv) Nationally-important habitats and species. The proposed framework anticipated that a range of measures would be needed to conserve marine biodiversity, including protected areas, spatial planning and other measures.

The Irish Sea Pilot tested the practicality and potential method of operation of the proposed framework and the additional measures needed to put it into effect. The Report makes recommendations based on the objectives, which were to:

• test ways of integrating nature conservation into key sectors in order to make an effective contribution to sustainable development on a regional basis;

• test the framework proposed by the paper "An implementation framework for the conservation, protection and management of nationally important marine wildlife in the UK";

• determine the potential of existing regulatory and other systems for delivering effective marine nature conservation, and identify any gaps;

• recommend measures to fill the gaps identified.

3.2 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

Many countries have come to recognise that reliance solely on a sectoral approach to planning and management in the marine environment has significant limitations and have introduced forms of integrated management to overcome these problems. The main delivery mechanisms have been:

• primary legislation - oceans acts or planning/ resource management acts which extend the scope of the planning and environmental management system offshore;

• spatial planning approaches which zone the inshore marine area by preferred use or define boundaries for certain activities (eg house building close to the coast);

• vertical and horizontal integration of management systems (ie between the local, regional and national levels, across sectors, or across geographical boundaries), cross-party working.

In addition, vision statements which engage the interest of the general public in the coastal zone and the dynamics of change there have a role to play in stimulating debate and action. The following paragraphs give some examples of these approaches from elsewhere in Europe and further afield which are relevant to the Scottish situation and which provide frames of reference against which progress here can be assessed.

THE NETHERLANDS - REDEFINING THE NATIONAL VISION FOR COASTAL MANAGEMENT

Four ministries of the Dutch government joined forces in the late 1990s to prepare a common vision on coastal issues in the Netherlands. The preparatory study was followed in 1999 and 2000 by a number of policy statements - on spatial planning, the coast, nature management in the 21st century, the countryside, and regional economy - aimed at putting coastal issues high on the policy agenda.

The central concept behind the vision statement is the shift towards a more flexible approach to management of the inherently unstable and vulnerable Dutch coastline and less reliance on "hard" engineering solutions.

The new perspective reflects the Dutch nation's necessity to face up to some pressing coastal issues, eg sea level rise and sinking land, the drying out of the dunes, salinization of agricultural land, overdevelopment of harbours and coastal land, and threats to the ecological balance of the Wadden Sea and remaining sea inlets.

The description of each key issue is clear and forthright, written in a friendly, accessible style, and it indicates the strategic choices which are involved. This approach has a high educational value and helps to raise the level of public debate.

The Dutch have learned the hard way about shoreline management and the undesirable ecological side effects which can result from an approach which overemphasises safety, economic development, and engineering solutions. The fact that the country now has only two true estuaries is recognised as a tragedy because estuaries are among the most productive ecosystems there are. The "Coastal Zone Perspective" report is a good reflection of how much the Dutch have learned and how open they are to new ideas in managing their highly dynamic coastal zone.

In Scotland, where fundamental assumptions about the way we manage and use our coastal resources all too often go unchallenged, and where integrated coastal management is still only the concern of a small professional minority, we could usefully pick up on the Dutch approach to stimulating public debate.

NORWAY - MARINE SPATIAL PLANS PREPARED AT LOCAL LEVEL

Legislation introduced in 1985 makes it possible for the kommunes (district councils) in Norway to prepare statutory coastal plans (kystsoneplan) covering inshore waters. The Planning & Building Act provides the basis for these plans but this legal tool is not as strong as some of the sectoral legislation, eg the Aquaculture Act.

Austevoll, a group of islands to the south of Bergen is probably the most important kommune in Norway in terms of fish farming. The running here was made by the local politicians who were keen to see conflicts between aquaculture, fishing, recreation, and harbour interests resolved and have created a local coastal zone plan. The zoning system in this type of plan covers all the main uses of the marine area based on priority (not exclusive) use. Once the draft of such a plan has been through consultation and is formally approved it becomes binding on government departments though the plans are not intended to be rigid. Austevoll now intends to update, review, and consult on the marine and terrestrial policies in parallel.

Extensive use is now made of GIS (computer-based geographic information systems) to prepare these plans and the Norwegian mapping authority is a key partner in the development of these coastal mapping systems.

Some county councils have also prepared regional-level coastal policy statements. Hordaland's county-wide plan for the coastal zone provides development guidelines for each activity/sector translating national guidelines into a regional context and providing a framework for local CZ plans which will make their outcomes more predictable. It has not been possible to produce a fully integrated spatial CZ plan at regional level because of the level of complexity involved, but to integrate the two levels Hordaland County Council has set up a task group to assist the kommunes in preparing and revising their local CZ plans.

A key factor in the Norwegian situation is the willingness to invest significant resources at all levels, but particularly at the local and regional level, to establish an infrastructure for coastal planning - eg enabling legislation, secondment of expert staff from the fisheries department to assist in plan preparation in some areas, practitioner networks, and collaborative development of information systems.

CANADA - NATIONAL OCEANS STRATEGY

In adopting an Oceans Act in 1997, Canada made a legal commitment to comprehensively protect and develop its oceans and coastal waters. The Act calls for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to lead and facilitate the development of a national ocean management strategy. The Act defines the roles of the Minister, Coast Guard and Marine Sciences and allows fees to be set for any service or facility provided under the act by the Minister. Canada's Oceans Strategy (COS), drafted in 2001, proposes a coherent management framework to make ocean use sustainable within one generation.

The strategy provides for an integrated approach to ocean management, the co-ordination of policies and programs across governments, and an ecosystem approach. An Advisory Council, including experts, stakeholders and regional representatives, advises the Minister on strategic oceans issues.

A systematic method of planning is being set-up to "control use of ocean space". 18 regional management pilot projects have been established. The long-term goal is to cover all of Canada's marine waters with integrated management plans and the other Oceans Act programmes (eg establishment of Marine Protected Areas) will be implemented within this planning framework. To date, the results of the new system have been very positive, but there are still issues relating to integration between land and sea.

Canada's approach recognises the fundamental need to establish the basis for collaborative decision-making to achieve a modern oceans management system. This implies a shift in the balance of the government's effort - away from regulation and sanction and towards leadership and facilitation.

THE USA - FEDERAL-STATE PARTNERSHIPS AND CONSISTENCY PROVISIONS

The Coastal Zone Protection Act of 1996 established the coast as a key area for protection and management. It is administered by the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) which takes the lead on the nation's coastal, estuarine and ocean management issues. OCRM is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Oregon is one of a few US states which has extended its planning and policy remit offshore. This has been done through a non-statutory coastal management programme which aims for resolution of conflicts and sustainable use. The programme involves a range of state agencies and defines planning goals. In addition, an Ocean Resources Management Act covers offshore activities and the extension of planning powers. The different policies and programmes are inter-linked and delivered by existing agencies through partnership.

There has been widely acclaimed success due to the "highly structured process; effective use of state officials, local leaders and citizens; high-level agency support; emphasis on sustainability and management by objectives rather than conflict resolution; use of the ecosystem-based approach; and a democratically accountable system for decision-making". The main constraints are funding and staff capacity.

San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) was set up in 1969 and is the federally designated state coastal management agency for the San Francisco section of the California coastline. As an agency, BCDC has authority to grant permits for development and has continually refined its policies in the light of experience. The Commission is composed of 27 members from a wide variety of stakeholders and at the time of writing had 29 staff. In UK terms this would be comparable to a well-resourced national park authority.

The BCDC has created dialogue between sectors through a mixture of long-term vision and a proactive attitude to facilitation with all stakeholders. Opponents of bay protection argued that it could only be achieved at the expense of economic development. But contrary to these fears, the Bay Area economy has continued to expand.

AUSTRALIA - PLANNING FOR MARINE NATIONAL PARKS

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is a successful example of spatial planning within a large Marine Protected Area. The Park is covered by a specific Act which requires zoning plans, permits and area/site management plans. There have been very good levels of public participation, and consultation and advisory arrangements with all relevant stakeholder groups. The link between the GBRMPA's plans and those of the terrestrial planning authorities is currently a voluntary one.

NEW ZEALAND - WORKING TO PUT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT THE CORE OF COASTAL MANAGEMENT

The Resource Management Act (RMA) of 1991 (later amended in 2003) is the core of the legislation intended to help achieve sustainability in New Zealand and it established a basis for coastal planning and policy development. The RMA requires the Minister of Conservation to prepare a coastal policy statement for New Zealand (NZPCS). It sets out a series of general principles for the sustainable management of New Zealand's coastal environment and national priorities for the preservation of its natural character.

To reflect the importance that New Zealanders attach to the coastal environment, each regional council is obliged to produce a regional policy statement (akin to a Structure Plan in the UK) which (unlike the UK) includes consideration of the entire coastal marine area under its jurisdiction (ie out to 12 miles offshore) as well as the land. Progress on the first round of regional coastal plans has been slow because the consultation processes under the RMA have proved more arduous than many expected and the NZCPS is open to a range of interpretation.

A tiered framework of plans is produced and aims for integration, but these do not as yet cover fisheries management, and this is now highlighted as a major weakness. Although the Act replaced many statutes, regulations and bodies, it still does not integrate all offshore resource management interests. Consultation is now underway for production of an Oceans Policy. If Maori claims to the seabed are successful, they could be the catalyst for closer integration of fisheries and coastal management because of Maori concepts of community fishing rights and environmental stewardship.

3.3 KEY LESSONS LEARNED

Government commitment to integrated management of the coast/marine environment at national level is vital to ensure that sectoral organisations and the general public look beyond their immediate interests and engage with ICZM processes:

• generally achieved through a national strategy, policy or act with appropriate legislative backing and adequate resources;

• the status of an ICZM plan is important, especially in relation to other (potentially conflicting) sectoral plans;

• effective engagement of stakeholders, and opportunities for public participation are important in ensuring broad support and involvement (especially for the inshore area and especially if a major shift in approach is proposed);

• a tiered framework from national to local level appears to work well. This might be a hierarchy of national priorities/principles (such as sustainable development, ecosystem approach, etc.) linking into regional policies and strategic plans then local detailed spatial planning;

• mechanisms which cover all uses of the sea seem to be more effective than those which just extend development controls offshore. Not including fisheries is seen to be an obvious deficiency;

• cross-boundary linkages need to be properly addressed. These include regional administrative boundaries; land-sea interface; inshore-offshore waters; and international boundaries;

• almost all successful ICZM models involve some form of spatial planning.