www.jncc.gov.uk/marineconsult marine natura in uk 2008-09 offshore sac consultation charlotte...
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www.jncc.gov.uk/marineconsult
Marine Natura in UK
2008-09 offshore SAC consultation
Charlotte Johnston, Mark Tasker,
Paolo Pizzolla JNCCNorth Sea RAC Demersal Working Group, 25th Nov 2008
25/11/2008
Who are JNCC?
The Joint Nature Conservation Committee is the body that brings together the UK statutory nature conservation agencies:
•Scottish Natural Heritage•Natural England•Countryside Council for Wales•Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside
JNCC advises on nature conservation for UK offshore waters (beyond 12 nautical miles from the coast)
Natura 2000
The Natura Directives aim to stop biodiversity loss within the European Union by protecting natural habitats and species.
Two Directives: ‘Habitats’ and ‘Birds’
• Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) for habitats and non-bird species• Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for birds
Offshore SACs
Habitats requiring protection under the Habitats Directive in waters away from the coast:• Reefs• Sandbanks which are slightly covered by seawater all the time• Submarine structures made by leaking gases
Species requiring protection under the Habitats Directive for which SACs may be identified in future include grey seal, common seal, bottlenose dolphin and harbour porpoise
Responsibilities for site identification
Each country identifies SACs and SPAs in their territorial waters.
JNCC identifies SACs and SPAs for UK offshore waters, and coordinate SAC/SPA selection for the UK.
Areas of responsibility
Outcome of 2007-08 Consultation
Previous consultation on 7 offshore possible SACs:• 5 sites were submitted to Europe and are now candidate SACs:
– Darwin Mounds– Stanton Banks– Haig Fras– Braemar pockmarks– Scanner pockmark
• 2 sites remain possible SACs pending further work:– North Norfolk Sandbanks and Saturn reef– Wyville Thomson Ridge
UK offshore site consultations
Two draft offshore SACs for public consultation starting in December 2008
Map version number 2.0 (6/11/08)Site map projected in British National Grid. The exact limits of the UK Continental Shelf are set out in orders made under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964 (© Crown Copyright). World Vector Shoreline © US Defense Mapping Agency. Map copyright JNCC 2008.
¯0 150 30075 Km
Sites:1. Dogger Bank2. North West Rockall
Legend
Draft Offshore SAC
Land
UK Continental Shelf Limit
UK Territorial Seas
Isle of Man Designated Area
British Fishery Limits
1.
2.
Offshore Marine Conservation Regulations
UK offshore Regulations came into force August 2007. Site protection provisions are:
– JNCC advise government of sites (SACs and SPAs) to be submitted to Europe
– 12 week consultation on scientific justification for sites, then site list submitted to European Commission by 1st Sept each year
– JNCC provide Conservation Objectives and Advice on Operations to Competent Authorities
– Competent Authorities must manage activities so they don’t affect the sites
– Plans and projects which may affect the integrity of a site require Appropriate Assessment
– Ongoing activities may require management measures if they affect the features of the site
Oct-Dec Pre-consultation meetings with competent
2008 authorities and key stakeholder groups
Dec 08 - Formal consultation period (pending
Mar 09 Government approval)
April 09 - Analysis of consultation submissions and June 09 report to UK Government
Aug 09 Sites submitted to European Commission
2008-09 consultation timetable
Offshore site consultations
Documents for each possible site will be available in December 2008:• scientific justification for identifying the site• draft impact assessment
Consultation period: 12 weeks
JNCC then compile submissions and provide a summary report
JNCC use the comments/results on the scientific justification for the site from consultation to modify site proposals if appropriate, and report to Government
UK Government will then decide whether to submit the sites to the European Commission.
2008-09 Consultation: Dogger Bank dSAC
Draft
Sandbanks slightly covered by seawater all the time;Harbour porpoiseSince 2005, the draft boundary has been modified to take account of new survey; Harbour porpoise has been re-graded at C-grade due to new data now available
Dogger Bank: slope analysis
Dogger Bank: infaunal communities
UK Dogger Bank: Adjacent European sites
IAs - Impact Assessments
Government guidelines require an Impact Assessment for all policy changes (previously a Regulatory Impact Assessment or RIA)
Impact Assessments examine the likely economic impacts of a policy change and the range of options for implementing it
IAs - Impact Assessments
JNCC will be preparing impact assessments for each site using contractors
Based on likely maximum and minimum management scenarios following JNCC’s draft Conservation Objectives and Advice on Operations for each site
Site-based Impact Assessments will be consulted on at the same time as the scientific justification for selection of the site.
Impact assessments will be updated following the consultation incorporating information from all responding stakeholders
Information needed from stakeholders
Information on what activities undertaken, their current and potential worth
Information on likely additional costs incurred by industry if the site is designated
Initial information to JNCC’s contractors during Nov-Dec 08 for inclusion in the Impact Assessment for consultation
Comment and further input through 12 week formal site consultation (Dec 08 to March 09)
Knowledge of current activities
Oil & gas installations
Knowledge of current activities
Aggregate extraction licence areas
Knowledge of current activities
Cables & pipelines
Knowledge of current activities
Potential windfarm licence areas
Knowledge of current activities
Demersal fisheries (2004)
Protection of UK offshore SACs
Protection of habitats in UK offshore SACs is the responsibility of Competent Authorities
Examples of Competent Authorities for UK offshore SACs are:
Oil and Gas, windfarms and other energy developments: Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC, formerly BERR);
Marine aggregate (sand and gravel) extraction: Marine and Fisheries Agency
Fishing: European Union CFP
Competent authorities must consider future consents, and review existing consents
Future plans for UK SACs and SPAs
JNCC’s offshore survey and data collation programme provides data for identification of additional draft offshore SACs
JNCC are conducting surveys and research towards identification of draft offshore SPAs.
Additional inshore SACs and SPAs away from the coast are also being identified by the Country Agencies with JNCC.
The EC deadline for completion of the Natura 2000 network is 2010.
UK SAC network
Further areas of search to be assessed for selection as SACs for habitats
Seabed habitat derived from BGS 1:250,000 seabed sediment maps © NERC and SeaZone bathymetry © British Crown and SeaZone Solutions Limited. All rights reserved. Products Licence No. PGA042006.003. The exact limits of the UK Continental Shelf are set out in orders made under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964 (© Crown Copyright). World Vector Shoreline © US Defense Mapping Agency. Map copyright JNCC 2008. IS 6/11/2008
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0 140 28070 km
Offshore cSACs 1 Darwin Mounds 2 Stanton Banks 3 Braemar pockmarks 4 Scanner pockmark 5 Haig Fras Offshore pSACs 6 N. Norfolk sandbanks & Saturn reef 7 Wyville Thomson RidgeOffshore dSAC 8 Dogger Bank 9 North West Rockall
Date published 6.11.08
^ Areas of Search under consideration
Offshore SACs
cSAC
pSAC
dSAC
Isle of Man Territorial seas limit
UK Continental Shelf limit
UK Territorial seas limit
Potential reef type
Bedrock, Stony and Biogenic
Bedrock
Stony
Biogenic
Sandy sediment in <20m water depth
Sandy sediment in <50m water depth
Land
Summary
Two UK possible offshore SACs (Dogger Bank & NW Rockall Bank) will be consulted upon December 2008 – March 2009
Consultation on the scientific justification for proposing the sites as SACs, plus likely socio-economic impact of site designation
Information on socio-economic impact of designation requested now and during the public consultation
More marine SACs (both inshore and offshore) to be consulted upon in 2009 and 2010
JNCC are undertaking survey to complete the offshore Natura 2000 network
We aim to make the process as open and inclusive as possible…
Further information
All the information for the consultation will be available on the JNCC website:www.jncc.gov.uk/marineconsult
The UK Offshore Marine Conservation Regulations:www.defra.gov.uk/marine/biodiversity/omcr.htmwww.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2007/20071842.htm
To contact us about:• SACs, email: [email protected]• SPAs, email: [email protected]
The consultation process - including registering your interest in taking part - email: [email protected]