First Progress Report published

Finding Sanctuary has made its first progress report to the Science Advisory Panel available on the web.

This progress report is a snapshot of the Finding Sanctuary Steering Group’s progress towards developing their recommendations for Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs).

The report was submitted to the Science Advisory Panel (SAP) for the first iteration of MCZ planning on the 30th June 2010. The purpose of the report is to give the SAP an update of how the work of the Finding Sanctuary Steering Group is developing. The SAP will give the Steering Group feedback and advice to help them work towards meeting the requirements set out in the Ecological Network Guidance.The Steering Group will produce two further progress reports to the SAP before their final recommendations are submitted in June 2011.

The Steering Group has decided that it would like to share the first progress report with the public in the spirit of being open and transparent, but it is not inviting comments on the report. Please note that the maps accompanying this report do not represent MCZ recommendations from the Steering Group.The first iteration of the impact assessment which has been submitted to Defra is also available to read.

It is important to point out that this is not a public consultation but a participatory planning approach. Defra will run a public consultation later in the process, after the Steering Group has submitted its final recommendations.

If people have suggestions or views they would like taken into account during the planning phase, they should contact their representative on the relevant Local Group or the Steering Group- details are available on the relevant web pages.

The report can be downloaded from the 'Progress Reports and Impact Assessments' section on our Resources page.