National marine planning
Marine planning in Scotland’s waters (to 200 nautical miles) is governed by:
- the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 (Scottish Parliament Act) - inshore waters (out to 12 nautical miles)
- the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (UK Parliament Act) - offshore waters (12 to 200 nautical miles)
The two Acts, referred to as the ‘Marine Acts’, set out the legislation that needs to be considered when marine planning. Marine planning can be a powerful tool for managing the developments affecting our seas by bringing together different interests so that decisions about what goes where in our seas can continue to benefit future generations.
Timeline to National Marine Plan 2
Scotland’s first National Marine Plan (NMP) was adopted and published in March 2015, setting out our vision for clean, healthy, safe, productive and diverse seas, managed to meet the long term needs of nature and people.
In accordance with the Scottish and UK legislation set out in the Marine Acts, statutory reviews must be carried out every three years from the adoption of the plan. Links to the review reports be found below:
- National Marine Plan Review 2018: three-year report
- National Marine Plan Review 2021: three-year report
The 2021 review concluded that although the NMP remained effective, there had been significant developments which could impact the use and management of our seas.
In the Programme for Government 2022 to 2023, Scottish ministers committed to start developing a new national marine plan for Scotland - National Marine Plan 2 (NMP2) - to address the global climate and nature crises by carefully managing our shared marine space.
In the Programme for Government 2024 to 2025 Scottish ministers reaffirmed their commitment to continue developing a new national marine plan.
As indicated in our statement of Public Participation and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy (published August 2024) a Planning Position Statement (PPS) summarising all the work to date on the development of Scotland’s NMP2 would publish in conjunction with a corresponding consultation.
The PPS consolidates all the stakeholder feedback we have received and sets out the draft high-level objectives and draft policy ideas for NMP2, in line with legal requirements and commitments relating to Scotland’s seas.