Context and Preferential Treatment: The Delinquent Appearance of Equity
The UK exhibits its unequal class system.
Nearly 25% of all of England's marine waters could have become designated marine conservation zones, yet extensive and lengthy consultations with users (stake holders) removed many from consideration. Currently, the protected waters of England are far below 1%. In 2013, the final 127 areas under consideration were put on hold due to budgetary considerations and further consultation disagreements. The first set of compromised zones, 31 in all, have yet to be finalized due to budgetary considerations.
It is significant: the degree to which consultation with stakeholders of English waters takes place and the degree to which the science and the available information is debated while the Chagossians struggle to just be acknowledged.
For the Chagossians, the apparent equation is:
Out of sight (and reach for them) = out of mind (and desire to care or listen by the government).
Out of sight (and reach for them) = out of mind (and desire to care or listen by the government).
Are the Chagossians not citizens? Do they not bleed the Union Jack (or at least the red part of it, like every other citizen)...?
The most telling line in the report comes from marine author Callum Roberts:
"There's no way you'll have an effective network of marine-protected areas the way we are going. It's undermining trust."
- How ironic...
BBC News reports - In 2013, a slew of pending marine conservation zones around Great Britain were put on hold:
~o~
"Cash shortage stretches to sea bed" by Roger Harrabin; 9 April 2013
The government has admitted moving slowly to protect wildlife in the seas because of the cost.
Environment Minister Richard Benyon said that in the current financial squeeze he could not designate as many areas for protection as he would like. He said he was hoping to confirm the designation of the current tranche of 31 Marine Conservation Zones under a consultation that ends on Sunday. ... 127 zones were originally nominated for protection after a compromise deal agreed with other users of the sea. Jolyon Chesworth from the Wildlife Trusts said: "The 127 zones were only nominated after very long discussions with anglers, sailors and the fishing industry. We are now being asked to compromise on a compromise." But Mr Benyon told the BBC that with cuts to the Defra budget, the cost of making scientific assessments and then developing rules for the use of different areas could not be dismissed. "We are constrained by a hugely expensive process at a time when we have little money in government," he said. Environmentalists are worried that the UK might slither back from its international commitment to create an ecologically coherent network of sites. They are angry that several key sites have been left out of the first tranche on the grounds that insufficient evidence was supplied to justify them.
Mr Chesworth said that in his south of England region there was a cast-iron case for designating, among others, Bembridge Levels on the Isle of Wight - home of the stalked jellyfish and Poole Harbour - a key breeding ground for sea horses. But both of these zones have been contested by sailors who fear that new rules will prevent them anchoring on sensitive sites. One boat owner on the Isle of Wight told Mr Benyon that the designations were "bonkers". Boaters are the mainstay of the local economy and have lived in harmony with wildlife for decades, he said. John Pockett, a local yachtsman, told the BBC: "We fear we won't be able to anchor our yachts; we fear we won't be able to train our next Ben Ainslie (the Olympian) because we won't be able to anchor marker boats."
Sailors are not the only ones protesting. In some areas fishing crews object to MPZs, even though they are supposed to provide a breeding ground for fish stocks to recover. A further complication is the fact that UK jurisdiction ends six nautical miles from the shore, even though its responsibility for wildlife stretches further. "It would be terrible to stop our own fishermen from exploiting sensitive areas [and] then allow boats of other nationalities to come in," Mr Benyon said. "We are trying to negotiate this with Brussels." The proposals stem from the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009.
If all the sites had been approved, just over a quarter of English waters would end up under some kind of protection. Currently, the total is way under 1%. Globally just 0.6% of the world's oceans have been protected, compared to almost 13% of our planet's land area.
Marine author Callum Roberts told the BBC: "There's no way you'll have an effective network of marine-protected areas the way we are going. It's undermining trust."
No comments:
Post a Comment