Marine Habitats
Marine habitats occurring around the UK are protected under
various international, European and national legislative frameworks
such as the EC Habitats Directive and conventions such as the
Convention on Biological Diversity.
In 1992, the UK signed up to the
Convention on Biological Diversity. The UK
government is discharging its duties under this agreement through
the launch of
Biodiversity: the UK Action Plan in 1994. A
UK Biodiversity Steering group was then set up and published
Biodiversity: the UK Steering Group Report:
Meeting
the Rio Challenge.
Habitat
Action Plans (HAPs) exist for various broad and priority marine
habitats and these are currently under review. Refer to
Conventions
and Legislation for further details.
The
EC Habitats Directive sets out a framework of
protected sites within Europe called Natura 2000. UK marine
habitats are listed in Annex I of the EC Habitats Directive whose
conservation require the designation of Special Areas of
Conservation (SACs). JNCC provides advice, and contributes to,
various initiatives and programmes all involved in different
implementation aspects for marine monitoring of Special Areas of
Conservation (SACs).
Reports can be downloaded from the
UK Marine SACs
project website detailing:
- information on the ecology, sensitivity and management of
subtidal brittlestar beds, maerl, Zostera, intertidal reef
biotopes, biogenic reefs, circalittoral faunal turfs, infralittoral
reefs with kelp, intertidal sand and mudflats, subtidal mobile
sands, sea pens and burrowing megafauna; and
- ecological requirements and sensitivity characteristics for the
conservation and management of marine SACs (the Marine Habitat
Reviews)
- information and good practice guidelines for activities which
may impact on European marine sites
Marine habitats are also being considered for protection under
the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the
North-East Atlantic ('
OSPAR Convention') which was opened for
signature at the Ministerial Meeting of the Oslo and Paris
Commissions in Paris on 22 September 1992. Under the OSPAR Strategy
on the Protection and Conservation of the Ecosystems and Biological
Diversity of the Maritime Area (Reference number: 1998-19), the
signatory countries of the OSPAR Convention agreed to "identify
those marine species, habitats or ecosystems that need to be
protected, conserved or restored". JNCC is currently contributing
to work within OSPAR's Biodiversity Committee to identify habitats
(and species) in need of protection. This is being undertaken using
the
Texel-Faial Criteria.
The
marine habitat classification for Britain
and Ireland provides a tool to aid the management and conservation
of marine habitats. It is one of the most comprehensive marine
benthic classification systems currently in use, and provides
a common language for describing biological character.