Indicator assessment
Over 2.4 million hectares of land and freshwater have been
designated as protected areas under national and international
legislation5 representing about 10% of the land area of
the UK (Figure 6 (i)). A further one million hectares of UK
coastal seas have also been designated. Since 2000, the
area of protected sites has risen significantly, although in the
last few years the trend has levelled out as the majority of
terrestrial sites required to be designated under European Bird and
Habitat Directives have been submitted to the European
Commission.
5.
Nationally important sites – Sites of Special
Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and Areas of Special Scientific
Interest (ASSIs) in Northern Ireland;
Internationally important sites – Special Areas of Conservation
(SAC) or Special Protection Areas (SPA).
Description of trends
The site condition indicator shows the
percentage of features or protected area meeting set criteria (the
features are the species or habitats for which the sites have been
designated). Features have been assessed since 1999
and the latest data available are for the period to December
2008. Over half (56%) of the A/SSSI features were assessed in
the period 1999-2006, and 70% of these were in favourable or
recovering condition. This is when the data were last assessed at a
UK level. Since 2006 countries have each reported their own
statistics annually. Figure 6 (ii) gives the percentage of features
or area assessed as favourable or recovering, in each country up to
December 2008. Another UK level analysis to allow calculation of
trends is scheduled for 2010.
For internationally important sites, 84% of
SACs and 52% of SPAs were assessed in the period 1999-2006. In 2006
61% of SAC features were either favourable or
unfavourable-recovering. Of the assessed SPA features, 81% were in
favourable or recovering condition.
Background
The total protected area is the combined area
of nationally designated sites (Sites of Special Scientific
Interest SSSI or Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in
Northern Ireland) and internationally designated sites (Special
Protection Areas (SPA) and Special Areas of Conservation (SAC)
under the EU Birds and Habitats Directives respectively).
There is considerable geographic overlap in these designations,
with many sites being designated as A/SSSI, SAC and SPA, although
such sites contribute only once to the total extent figures.
The SSSI and ASSI designation underpins almost all of the
international sites, but the European sites go further, by the
inclusion of marine areas - a further million hectares of which has
been designated as SAC and/or SPA. As a matter of policy,
candidate SACs are given full protection from the time they are
submitted to the European Commission. The graph shows the
cumulative effect of adding such sites over time, as they were
submitted in a number of tranches over several years, rather than a
large increase in 2005 when the full list was adopted in Europe.
The area under protection in the marine environment is likely to
increase further in the next few years as a result of designation
of offshore marine sites under the Habitats Directive. In
August 2008 a first tranche of 5 offshore marine sites, covering
268,409 hectares was submitted to the European
Commission.
The UK wide Common Standards Monitoring
programme is undertaken by the statutory conservation agencies to
assess the effectiveness of management of the features for which
protected areas have been designated. The data presented for
this indicator are for the biological (species and habitats)
features only; the monitoring of condition of features is also
undertaken for geological features. Each site will have a
management plan or statement which identifies the conservation
objective(s) for that site. The monitoring tests whether the
objective has been met.
Sites may have one or more interest features
on them and each of these is assessed separately.
Conservation objectives are developed by identifying the key
attributes which make up or support the feature (e.g. extent,
quality, supporting processes), and setting targets for them.
Each attribute is then measured and compared against the target
value set. If all the targets are met, the feature is in
favourable condition. Human activities which are likely to be
affecting the site adversely, and the conservation measures taken
to maintain or restore the site, are also recorded.
Further development planned
Only one cycle of assessment (April 1999 – March 2005) has taken
place for Common Standards Monitoring. A first
six year report on the results of the monitoring was published by
JNCC in June 2006. Second assessments are being undertaken,
as are assessments of features which were not assessed in the first
cycle. A second UK scale analysis is scheduled for 2010
to facilitate calculation of trends.