NEW marine repor ts and guides
policy document has been published by the Canal & River Trust (CRT) setting out how these vital, historic and typically narrow routes can be sustainably used, managed, and made more accessible for the benefit of all.
Towpaths for Everyone Alongside the canals’ core use for boating and angling, ‘Towpaths for Everyone’ outlines the key role that the 2,000-miles of towpaths play in public life, including as part of a nationwide active travel network. The policy sets out how CRT and its partners and towpath visitors can all play their part in ensuring towpaths remain the nation’s greatest linear green spaces, providing vital access to nature through towns and cities and links to the countryside.
Canal & River Trust publishes its policy to keep towpaths safe and accessible
With the UK’s canals attracting record numbers of visitors and more people using towpaths than ever before, a
To help ensure people share the often limited towpath space and that they remain safe and welcoming places for all, Towpaths for Everyone has a code of conduct for visitors. This includes cyclists and runners respecting the slowest moving people on the towpath as well as those accessing the water space, such as boaters and anglers.
Increasingly popular spaces Heather Clarke, CRT director, commented, “Whilst our historic canals are still navigated by boats much as they were at the height of the Industrial Revolution, today’s canals and their towpaths have also been repurposed for modern society. They are increasingly popular spaces for walking, running, cycling, and angling as well as serving boaters and those accessing other on-water activities such as canoeing and paddleboarding.
“With towpaths more popular than at any time in history, we face challenges in balancing the needs of all the people who use them, whilst protecting their special waterway character, heritage and environment. As our ageing network faces increased pressures from government funding cuts and climate change- driven damage, it is more important than ever to secure investment from third parties to keep these much- loved spaces open and accessible.”
Download the policy document in pdf format at
https://bit.ly/47xZ6AL.
Building a sustainable and resilient ocean economy beyond 2030
The Trade and Environment Review 2023 analyses the impacts of human activities and global crises on the ocean economy, which includes traditional sectors such as fishing and shipping, as well as emerging ones like offshore wind energy and marine biotechnology. It addresses the current and emerging crosscutting role of the ocean in advancing economic growth, social inclusion and environmental sustainability.
The report builds on the recommendations from the 4th UN Oceans Forum and the 2nd UN Ocean Conference held in 2022. It highlights the urgent need for a global “Blue Deal” to boost investment in protecting our ocean and sustainably using its resources.
Fifty to eighty percent of life on earth is found in the ocean. For centuries
the ocean, which is the planet’s life support system, was considered too vast to fail and its resources so infinite that they could be exploited imprudently.
The ocean economy is worth between $3 trillion and $6 trillion and offers vast opportunities for developing countries to build resilience. But marine resources are under threat from climate change, pollution and overfishing. About 11 million tonnes of plastic flow into the ocean each year. Globally, 34% of fish stocks have fallen to levels that are biologically unsustainable. At stake are the livelihoods of about 3 billion people – living mostly in coastal developing countries – who rely on the ocean for food and income.
Download the pdf report at
https://bit.ly/48WvUUV.
THE REPORT | MAR 2024 | ISSUE 107 | 41
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