5 - Marine Conservation Zones Designation

Summary

This chapter focuses on the process of designation of MCZs in English waters at the basis of MCZs designation. The designation of MCZs is a very interesting case to study attempts at democratising conservation regulation as it has contemplated extensive participation. Departing from the technocratic and purely science-based approach to site selection typical of domestic and European nature conservation law, socio-economic considerations and participatory techniques have been key elements of the designation process of MCZs in England from the start. However, a critical reading of the participatory approach reveals certain weaknesses, mainly to do with the choice of an aggregative rather than a deliberative model of democracy. Advocating for a relational ontology and epistemology, the chapter ends with a call for bringing forth new, ‘thicker’ models of participation that are more attentive to multiple forms of communication and identities and more conducive to commoning practices.