19 April 2010

2010 Tay Estuary Forum Annual Conference

Offshore wind farms, sustaining dolphin tourism and the role the RNLI play around our shores are among the wide variety of issues which will be discussed at the 2010 Tay Estuary Forum annual conference at the University of Dundee this week.

The conference, organised in association with the Committee of Heads of Environmental Sciences (CHES), takes place on Friday, 23rd April at the West Park Conference Centre, Perth Road.

The Tay Estuary Forum (TEF) is a voluntary Local Coastal Partnership (LCP), communicating between stakeholders, community groups and all those with an interest in the Tay Estuary and surrounding coast. It is part of a wider, national network of partnerships, helping to deliver Integrated Coastal Zone Management.

2010 is the Forum’s 13th year of working to 'promote the wise and sustainable use of the Tay Estuary and adjacent coastline'. Conference delegates represent a wide range of both statutory and voluntary groups and can expect presentations within three key themes:

• Session A: The evolving nature of coastal management will explore Marine Scotland’s consultation on Scottish Marine Regions; take a closer look at the Severn Estuary Partnership’s management strategy and learn outcomes from a CHES study assessing graduate employment needs in the coastal and estuarine sector.
• Session B: Human Impacts on the Natural Environment will include presentations from the Dolphin Space Programme, promoting sustainable wildlife tourism; the RNLI and sea safety; Fife’s Shoreline Management Plan Review and SEPA will discuss monitoring and mitigating effects of diffuse pollution within the Tay and South Esk catchments.
• Session C: Sustainable Economic Development & Renewable Energy will hear from The Crown Estate regarding offshore wind developments at Bell Rock; there will be talks from South East Scotland’s Inshore Fisheries Group and the Strategic Development Planning Authority, TAYplan (encompassing Fife, Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross Councils).

This year, an interactive workshop session will give delegates the opportunity to discuss social, environmental and economic issues within the TEF area which stretches from the River North Esk on the Angus coast, to Fife Ness, including the Tay Estuary to Scone.

An update will be given on progress with actions from the TEF Management Plan, launched last year; aiming to unite the many initiatives operating along this diverse stretch of coast into a sustainable framework for the future.

Please contact Laura Booth (Project Officer) on 01382 384933 for more information or email TayEstuaryForum@dundee.ac.uk.

The conference will begin at 10am (registration from 9:30) until 4pm in the Sidlaw Suite at West Park Conference Centre, 319, Perth Road, Dundee, DD2 1NN.

Directions: www.westpark.co.uk/location/.

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07800 581902