POLITICIANS have ‘missed the opportunity’ to help the Island ‘become a world leader in environmental protection’ by rejecting proposals to develop a marine park in the Island’s waters, according to environmental groups backing the project.
The Blue Marine Foundation and the National Trust for Jersey released a joint statement shortly after the States Assembly voted against Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham’s amendment to the Bridging Island Plan.
Senator Farnham’s amendment called for about 900km2 of sea to be protected from ‘inappropriate development and damaging activities’ caused by unsustainable fishing practices such as bottom trawling and dredging.
Both organisations said they were ‘concerned and disappointed’ that Members had ultimately voted against the proposal by 28 to 14.
They argued that it went against the results of an independent survey carried out at their request – in which 85% of 2,400 respondents thought a marine park should be established to cover 30% of Jersey’s waters.
‘It’s disheartening that members of the States appeared to be ignoring the strength of feelings among Jersey’s electorate about the need to improve the protection of the Island’s marine environment with the level of ambition now signed up to by 100 countries around the world,’ the statement read.
‘We believe that the proposal for a marine park will live to fight another day, and it is up to those who are contesting this summer’s election to show that they share the views of the people.’
Although the groups welcomed successful proposals from Environment Minister John Young, calling for the development of a ‘marine spatial plan’, and inclusion of more marine-protected areas within the Bridging Island Plan, they said it lacked the ambition that ‘could have been achieved in the form of a marine park’.
The statement continued: ‘Sadly the current States Assembly has missed the opportunity to help Jersey become a world leader in environmental protection and opted for compromise and bureaucratic mediocrity.’
