Firth of Clyde Forum Annual Conference 2007

Isabel Glasgow, Chair of the Firth of Clyde Forum, chaired the Forum’s 2007 Annual Conference held in the spectacular Banqueting Hall of the Glasgow City Chambers.

• Conference Home
• Conference Programmme
• Keynote Presentation
• Additional Presentations
  • The Growth Of Marine Leisure on The Firth of Clyde
  • Industry Initiatives
  • The Clyde’s Cool Seas: The Marine Conservation Society in Scotland
  • Paths Around the Water
  • Sailing in the Clyde Estuary
  • The Economy of the Coast
  • The Majestic Line
  • Marine Wildlife Watching on the Clyde: The Scottish Marine Wildlife Watching Code
• Speakers' Biographies
• Conference Exhibitors

I welcome you all to this conference. I have had the pleasure of chairing the Forum ever since its re-establishment back in the 1990s, and I am pleased to see so many of you here today to hear, and participate in, what promises to be an exceptionally interesting conference in, I might add, an exceptional venue - thank you Glasgow City Council for making this happen. Many thanks also to the Crown Estate for sponsoring what looks to be a delicious lunch.

It is truly an exciting time for the Firth of Clyde with so much going on in Marine Leisure and Recreation - and in other fields of course. You will be hearing today from people who are involved with helping to make this happen, so that the potential of the Clyde does not continue to be a well kept secret – an observation, I believe, made by Chay Blythe a number of years ago when opening the Largs Sailing Club.

You will be hearing about ways to minimise the impacts on the environment from all these activities and how there is also the need to integrate the activities of the wide range of users themselves on the Clyde and how this will become ever more important as the years go on.

It is timely that the work of the Clyde Pilot, the Government's Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative (SSMEI) producing a marine spatial plan for the Firth, is moving forward and will shortly be used to test the voluntary approach to integrated management. The Forum itself is working closely with the Clyde Pilot team and will continue to work with its own partners to encourage integration and a sustainable approach. Also, the Forum will continue to keep its members posted on progress of the work of the Clyde Pilot and the Forum.

It is also a time of great activity on marine issues in general, with the Scottish Government's intention to introduce a Marine Bill for Scotland and the UK Government proposing a draft UK Marine Bill soon. This will no doubt impact on the role of the Forum and other similar organisations around Scotland who currently play an important part in delivering Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM as it is known), but I am confident that the Forum with its long established, varied and dedicated range of partners will play a significant role in the future.

To return to marine leisure and recreation, it is timely that the Clyde is sharing its secret as a jewel in the crown within Scotland - never before has it been more important to deliver a well-managed sustainable range of activities at a time of climate change concerns and the encouragement to stay nearer to home for leisure and recreation. The Clyde is already beginning to show the way.