Monitoring Tools

The Marine Monitoring Handbook addresses the principles behind and procedures for monitoring Annex I habitats, and selected Annex II species, within marine Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) to assess their condition in accordance with the relevant requirements of the EC Habitats Directive and the Common Standards for Monitoring guidance. JNCC led and co-ordinated the preparation of this Handbook (published March 2001) and will prepare subsequent updates. It is the intention to regularly revise the text and add additional procedural guidelines as techniques are developed. The electronic version online is the most up-to-date available.

 

JNCC promotes the use of standards to give confidence that the data being collected and reported on is of a high quality. With work being carried out on many different habitat features of conservation interest there is a need to develop, maintain and improve taxonomic standards for marine life.

 

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. This classification aids monitoring as it allows a more reliable assessment of site quality by having comparable biotopes across sites and thus provides an important component in achieving a consistent approach to describing marine SACs throughout the UK.

 

One of JNCC's special functions is to establish common standards throughout the UK for monitoring nature conservation. By implementing common standards it ensures a consistent, integrated, UK wide approach. Results from different types of interest feature and from different geographically variable locations will be comparable; it will provide continuity between field officers with differences in expertise and experience and; it will provide advice on the implementation of CSM for monitoring Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).

 

The MNCR took place from 1987 to 1998. Its main objectives were to identify sites and species of nature conservation importance, to extend our knowledge of benthic marine habitats, communities and species and provide information through the data collected to minimize adverse effects of development and pollution. Other elements of the MNCR involved developing, along with contribution from country agency staff, methods for survey, assessment and reporting. The results of the MNCR programme are published in two overview volumes and 15 volumes describing the marine biology of our coasts. All aspects of the MNCR and further surveys are supported by Marine Recorder, a powerful database which enables rapid access, manipulation and dissemination of data.