Question reference: S4W-23909
- Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 7 January 2015
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Current status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 January 2015
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what resources will be made available to the Clyde 2020 initiative and the emerging regional marine planning partnership to (a) identify the indicators of Good Environmental Status (GES) relevant to the region and (b) deliver the practical measures needed to achieve GES by 2020.
Answer
Clyde 2020 is a broad-based initiative which aims to bring together existing activity and build on that through new action – both scientific research and practical measures – to achieve a healthier and more sustainable Clyde ecosystem.
A project steering group and a research group for Clyde 2020 are being established to facilitate the work of the Clyde 2020 programme, and additional funding of £11,063 has been provided to the Firth of Clyde Forum to contribute to work on the Clyde 2020 action plan which will be published later in 2015.
All of the eleven descriptors of GES under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive can inform our understanding of how the Clyde ecosystem operates. The directive operates at a broad regional sea level and the descriptors are designed to be relevant at that geographical level. However, there may well be linkages between action required at that broader scale and local management required for the Clyde.
The Clyde 2020 programme is being supported by existing research undertaken by Marine Scotland Science and other Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland partners.
Current research being undertaken through the European Fisheries Fund project ‘Evidence Gathering in Support of Sustainable Scottish Inshore Fisheries’, is due to report in August 2015. This research is targeted within the Firth of Clyde and should contribute to the understanding of GES and the outputs will be available to support the Clyde 2020 initiative and the marine planning partnership.