NRW Marine Programme

Summary Work Plan 2015 -2016

1. Introduction

NRW’s Marine Programme Board oversees a programme of marine work that is intended to deliver against four key work areas expressed as the programme objectives.  The overarching aims and four objectives of the programme are set out below:

Aim 1: To support the implementation of the Ecosystem Approach, to achieve the sustainable management of marine natural resources in Wales.

Aim 2: To align NRW marine work to deliver against Welsh Government priorities, including their Marine transition Programme. 

Objective 1: To contribute to the development of the first Wales National Marine Plan (WNMP), providing timely evidence and advice to enable this process to deliver sustainable management of the marine environment, and advising on the relationship with new mechanisms within the Environment Bill and other relevant policy and legislation.

Objective 2: To provide consistent and comprehensive evidence and advice to support the implementation of Marine Strategy Framework Directive, seeking full integration with marine planning in order to delivery tangible ecosystem improvements and benefits.

Objective 3:Contribute to the delivery of an ecologically coherent and well-managed network of Marine Protected Areas by 2016, and that the social and economic benefits of these sites are quantified and enhanced

Objective 4: To support the sustainable management of marine activities, providing input to sectoral planning processes and developing the appropriate evidence base to support decision-making.

2. Marine programme work plan for 2015-16

The annual activities for 2015-16 are detailed below. This includes work with specific deliverables this year.  These are organised under each of the four objectives above together with a fifth category for cross-cutting evidence work.  There is also a further category for ‘day job’ work that lists ongoing day-to-day work that relates to the objectives of the marine programme and which also absorbs a considerable amount of staff time and resource. 

As with the public sector in general, NRW is under considerable resource pressure, and as a result it is not possible to deliver all areas of marine work that should form part of the annual work plan.  Key areas of work that is on hold, or significantly slowed or reduced in scope, due to limited resources are also identified.

Objective 1: Marine planning

1. Input to first draft of Wales National Marine Plan (WNMP)
2. Input to formal consultation of the draft WNMP
3. Deliver SEA of WNMP
4. Advise on development of Marine Planning Portal

Objective 2: Marine Strategy Framework Directive

1. Input to finalisation of the programme of measures
2. Input to continued development of targets and indicators
3. Input to MSFD reporting cycle
4. Deliver MSFD Monitoring Programme and PoM requirements

Objective 3: Marine Protected Areas

1. Progress possible new marine SPAs and SACs for harbour porpoise
2. Input to UK MPA stocktake and subsequent analysis of gaps in the network
3. Prepare MPA management improvement plan
4. Support implementation of MPA management improvement plan
5. Provide Wales input to OSPAR MPA management reporting
6. Progress themed review of marine actions in the Actions Database

Objective 4: Managing marine activities

1. Support sustainable delivery of strategic marine industry planning and assessment exercises including: tidal stream, tidal range, marine aggregates, oil and gas, marine energy SEA.
2. Strategic internal support for marine incident management
3. Procedural and best practice guidance (internal and external)
4. Tidal Range Programme delivery
5. Wave & Tidal Stream programme delivery
6. Fisheries HRA advice
7. Cockle management
8. Scallop management

Marine evidence (cross-cutting more than one programme objective)

1. Advise towards WG Marine Evidence Strategy (TBC)
2. Development of cross-cutting marine evidence products
3. Deliver a prioritised survey, monitoring and reporting programme for MPAs in Wales

Day job areas

1. Casework – NSIPs
2. Casework – planning
3. Casework -advice on permits and licenses, including marine licences, EPS licenses etc.
4. Casework – fisheries
5. Regulation: Licensing and permits
6. Internal advice and liaison
7. Internal governance
8. Guidance
9. External advice and liaison
10. Designations: evidence, management, processing etc.
11. Developing the evidence base
12. Monitoring and survey
13. Reporting
14. Staff training and development

On hold, or significantly slowed/reduced in scope, due to resource constrains:

Marine planning

• Develop guidance to support WNMP policies/content (on hold)

MSFD

• Review risks related to NRW delivery of PoM, Monitoring Programme, assessment and reporting (on hold)

MPAs

• Progress Regulation 35 Review (slowed)
• Review site management plans (that are due for review) (slowed)
• Develop conservation objectives and site feature for Skomer MCZ (slowed)
• Progress MPA benefits project (on hold)

Management of marine activities

• Procedural and best practice guidance (internal and external) (some on hold)

Marine evidence

• Identify priority marine biodiversity-related evidence needs/gaps and seek/secure opportunities to address (slowed)
• Development of cross-cutting marine evidence products  (some on hold)

3. Monitoring and review

NRW’s Marine Programme Board undertakes quarterly monitoring of progress with delivery of the annual work plan.  The work plan is then reviewed and refreshed in full each financial year.