Scotland’s Coastal and Marine Policy: from voluntary partnerships through devolution to a Marine Act.

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of marine and coastal policy in Scotland from the period of the 1990s with the launch of voluntary partnerships, through the devolution of the 2000s up to the development of a Marine Act in 2010. Scotland has a coastline of c.11 000km and vast bordering offshore seas with significant sectors of the marine economy in a growth phase and coastal communities reliant on marine activities, as well as wilderness areas with high landscape and conservation value. The analysis considers some of the key drivers which have led to increased consideration of sustainability for coasts and seas. The paper describes a new regime within the Marine Act and focuses on the arrangements for marine planning and management. The conclusion summarizes the overall evolution of the regime for governance and examines some of the key challenges which must be met, if management of the marine and coastal environment for Scotland and the UK is to be truly integrated, participatory, and ecologically sustainable.