The bill has been included in the Government's Draft Legislative Programme, which means that it will be allocated a slot in the Parliamentary session of autumn 2008 to summer 2009.
Melissa Moore, Senior Policy Officer at the Marine Conservation Society, has welcomed the announcement. But she warned that, while the Government was 'close to producing a ground-breaking bill', the bill had, in its present draft form, 'too many flaws and loopholes to deliver on its promises'.
'We have serious concerns that the measures proposed are not strong enough to actually deliver a network of Marine Conservation Zones,' said Moore. 'These need to be toughened up. We want to see a 'duty' to designate such a network and time-scales on when it will be delivered.'
The MCS is also concerned that 'socio-economic considerations rather than science should be key criteria in identifying where sites should be located'.
It is worried, too, about a 'get-out clause... that says it is acceptable for industry and government to damage a Marine Conservation Zone if it is 'impossible or impracticable' not to'.
Pushing for a nationwide programme, the MCS has urged the Scottish Government to 'sign up to developing a joint Marine Policy Statement for the UK'.
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