On 30 May 2002, the European
Union adopted a Recommendation on implementing Integrated Coastal Zone
Management (ICZM) in Europe.
This
Recommendation asked Member
States to adopt a strategic approach to the management of their coastal
zones, based on a number of principles laid out in the document. It
specifically recommended that Member States undertake a stocktaking
exercise of the current framework of laws, policies and institutions for
their coastal zones, which was to be used to form the basis of a national
strategy or wider coastal strategies.
Member States were also asked to
report their experiences of implementing the Recommendation to the
Commission, including the results of the stocktaking exercise and
information on the strategy or strategies proposed at the national level
for implementation of ICZM.
The Government published the UK
Response to the Recommendation on 31 March 2006. This report summarised
the UK stocktaking findings and also set out summaries of individual ICZM
strategies or proposed strategies for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland
and Wales and the actions to be taken to implement these
strategies.
Defra is currently preparing a
consultation document which will ask for views from those with an interest
in the coast, about how ICZM might be promoted throughout England. This
document will be published shortly.
The full UK response to the
Commission's Recommendation on ICZM is available through the Defra website
at:
RPAIRS