A Cornwall wave taken with the camera partially submerged in the water. The shallow water shows a rocky sea bed with algae, while a brilliant blue sky can be seen above the crashing wave.

Marine planning for nature

More and more, humans look to the sea for food, energy, transport and recreation. As activity increases, so do pressures on the marine environment. Marine planning is a key mechanism through which to manage human activity at sea.

UK seas contain a rich variety of species and habitats, from basking sharks and sea slugs to pink sea fans and cold-water coral reefs. Although their waters seem vast, they’re in fact increasingly busy. 

With marine species and habitats already struggling, it's crucial that the amount and type of human activity is managed, and that ecosystems are given the space they need to recover. Marine planning sets priorities and direction for development, ensures that marine resources are used sustainably and can help to protect and regenerate marine ecosystems by directing activity away from important species and habitats. Therefore, protecting nature both within and outside Marine Protected Areas.  

However, marine planning in the UK is currently far less developed than planning systems on land and existing plans are not robust enough to deal with the increasing pressures on marine ecosystems. For example, UK governments have set extremely ambitious targets for offshore renewable energy. Whilst this is a crucial way to support the transition to Net Zero, these targets will add further pressure to our seas and may mean fishing spreads to new areas.

UK governments are also failing to deliver legally-binding biodiversity targets, which could push the marine environment – increasingly degraded – to its limits. We’re working with Governments across the UK, as well as other actors like the Crown Estate and the Crown Estate Scotland, to change this.

A wind farm out at sea shows around 6 turbines in the foreground with more in the far distance under a bright blue sky.

Image credit: Nicholas Doherty

We’re calling for marine planning frameworks to be more: 

  • Spatial – directing activity to the least environmentally-sensitive areas and safeguarding at risk areas for nature recovery 
  • Holistic – considering the needs of, and impacts from, all activities together, rather than in isolation 
  • Strategic – including mechanisms to prioritise between different activities and targets and managing pressures to ensure that the marine environment recovers 

What we’re currently doing 

We’re feeding into the development of the English East Marine Plans by the Marine Management Organisation to advocate for more spatially prescriptive and nature positive policies to be included. The final consultation will be taking place mid-late 2026. 

In Wales, we commissioned a report from Howell Marine Consulting to identify opportunities for marine planning to support the Welsh Government in delivering its marine environmental commitments. The Welsh Government has since taken forward several of the report’s recommendations.  

Read our Marine Planning for Nature in Wales report

We helped secure the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, and a Ministerial duty within Scotland to deliver the first National Marine Plan; we’re now working with conservation partners to ensure the National Marine Plan 2.0 is even better than the first, with the regeneration of nature forming a core policy and aim. 

Although the Act includes the powers to establish Regional Marine Plans, so far only one has been adopted while two more are in development. We’re helping to shape the plan for the Firth of Clyde, including policies that boost ocean recovery, and will continue to push for plans covering the remaining eight Scottish Marine Regions. 

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