Scottish Natural Heritage FACTS AND FIGURES 1996-97 Working with Scotland’s people to care for our natural heritage PREFACE SNH Facts and Figures 1996/97, contains a range of useful facts and statistics about SNH’s work and is a companion publication to our Annual Report. SNH came into being on 1 April 1992, and in our first Annual Report we published an inventory of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). After an interval of five years it is appropriate to now update this inventory. We have also provided a complete Scottish listing of National Nature Reserves, National Scenic Areas, European sites and certain other types of designation. As well as the information on sites, we have also published information on our successes during 1996/97 including partnership funding of projects, details of grants awarded, licences issued and our performance in meeting our standards for customer care. We have also published a full list of management agreements concluded in 1996/97. We hope that those consulting this document will find it a useful and valuable record. We are committed to being open in the way we work and if there is additional information you require, contact us, either at any local offices (detailed in the telephone directory) or through our Public Affairs Branch, Scottish Natural Heritage, 12 Hope Terrace, Edinburgh EH9 2AS. Telephone: 0131 447 4784 Fax: 0131 446 2277. Table of Contents LICENCES 1 Licences protecting wildlife issued from 1 April 1996 to 31 March 1997 under various Acts of Parliament 1 CONSULTATIONS 2 Natural Standards 1996/97 2 SNH responses to Government & other national consultations 1 April 1996 - 31 March 1997 3 Public access to environmental information under the Environmental Information Regulations 1992 - a statement 6 MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS 7 Management Agreements completed under Section 15 of the Countryside Act 1968 7 Management Agreements completed between 1 April 1996 and 31 March 1997 under Section 15 of the Countryside Act 1968 7 Management Agreements completed under Section 49(A) of the Countryside (Scotland) Act 1967 between 1 April 1996 and 31 March 1997 8 Agreements completed in Caithness and Sutherland under the Peatland Management Scheme between 1 April 1996 and 31 March 1997 8 Agreements concluded in Dumfries & Galloway under the Solway Merse Management Scheme between 1 April 1996 and 31 March 1997 9 Total Agreements concluded in Dumfries & Galloway under the Barnacle Goose Management Scheme between 1 April 1996 and 31 March 1997 9 Agreements concluded under the Islay Goose Management Scheme between 1 April 1996 and 31 March 1997 9 Agreements concluded in Orkney under South Walls Goose Management Scheme between 1 April 1996 to 31 March 1997 10 Agreements concluded in Aberdeenshire under Loch of Strathbeg Goose Management Scheme between 1 April 1996 and 31 March 1997 10 Management Agreements concluded under Section 16 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 between 1 April 1996 and 31 March 1997 10 Management Agreements concluded under Section 16 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 between 1 April 1992 and 31 March 1996 11 DESIGNATED SITES 12 National Nature Reserves - distribution, area and tenure 12 Distribution of SSSI by Local Authority areas 14 SSSI notified between 1 April 1996 and 31 March 1997 15 SSSI denotified between 1 April 1996 and 31 March 1997 15 Total areas notified as SSSI by 31 March 1997 16 Damage to SSSI in Scotland: 1 April 1996 to 31 March 1997 16 Ramsar Sites designated by Government between 1 April 1996 and 31 March 1997 18 Special Protection Areas designated by Government between 1 April 1996 and 31 March 1997 18 Proposed Ramsar Sites and pSPAs submitted to Government by 31 March 1997 and still awaiting designation 18 Complete list of Scottish Ramsar and Special Protection Areas designated at 31 March 1997 19 Scottish proposed Special Areas of Conservation (pSAC) at 31st March 1997 21 Biosphere Reserves as at 31 March 1997 24 Biogenetic Reserves as at 31 March 1997 24 World Heritage Sites as at 31 March 1997 24 Long Distance Routes 25 Historic Gardens and Designed Landscapes 25 National Scenic Areas 25 Local Nature Reserves 26 Regional Parks 26 Country Parks 27 Full alphabetical list of Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified by 31 March 1997 28 GRANTS 54 Grants awarded by SNH 54 Grant expenditure across our Corporate Programmes 55 Projects attracting partnership funding 56 List of grants made by SNH in 1996/97 60 LICENCES Licences protecting wildlife issued from 1 April 1996 to 31 March 1997 under various Acts of Parliament A. The Protection of Badgers Act 1992 No of licences 1 Badger Conservation 1 2 Investigating offences at setts 2 3 Destroying setts for development 3 B. Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (Section 16) 1 Taking wild birds for scientific purposes 38 for ringing or marking 8 for photography 0 for conservation purposes 11 2 Disturbance of wild birds listed on the first schedule for science and conservation purposes (private individuals) DBE 142 for photography (private individuals) DBP 57 BTO ringing scheme 91 BTO nest recording 3 RSPB (DBE) 57 3 Other animals licences for scientific purposes 38 licences for ringing 11 licences for conservation purposes 95 licences for photography 3 4 Wild plants licences for scientific or educational purposes 6 licences for conservation purposes 7 5 Licences to SNH scientific staff to disturb Schedule 1 birds in the course of their duties 23 C. The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 licences for scientific purposes 31 licences for ringing purposes 5 licences for conservation 90 Total 722 Key: BTO = British Trust for Ornithology RSPB = Royal Society for the Protection of Birds DBE = Disturbance of Birds for Examination DBP = Disturbance of Birds for Photography 1 CONSULTATIONS Natural Standards 1996/97 Natural Standards is SNH’s response to the Government’s Citizen Charter. Through Natural Standards we promise to deliver good quality services and to foster customer care in everything we do. One of our commitments under Natural Standards is to monitor how quickly we respond to enquiries. The majority of queries fall into eight broad categories: information & advice; publications; grants; consultations; licences; permits; objections to SSSI notifications; and management agreements. Each category has its own standards as regards to how long a reply should take. These are set out in our Natural Standards leaflet which is available free of charge from any of our offices. The table below outlines our performance for 1996/97. Natural Standards Category Total Contacts Within Standards Information & Advice 75,541 97% Consultations 2,734 96% Grants 1,448 94% Publications 2,351 99% Licences 180 91% Permits 286 100% Management Agreements 95 93% There were no objections to SSSI notification recorded in 1996/97. In 1996/97 we received a total of 82,635 contacts; nearly all enquiries were answered on the same day, and where further action was required we met the required standards more than 95% of the time. The majority of enquiries sought information or advice and here our standards were even higher; again most enquiries were satisfied immediately and for the 11,316 that were not, a final response was supplied within the standards’ targets on 97% of occasions. 2 SNH responses to Government & other national consultations 1 April 1996 - 31 March 1997 Sender Government Topic Date Final Yes/No received Response The Scottish Office y Crofting trusts: Secretary of State’s 07/02/96 29/04/96 Agriculture, consultation paper Environment and Fisheries Department (SOAEFD) SOAEFD y Draft NPPG - skiing developments 23/02/96 17/04/96 SOAEFD y Conservation measures for scallops 01/03/96 30/04/96 SOAEFD y Proposed Removal of Statutory Control on 11/03/96 11/04/96 Viral Haemorhagic Disease (VHD) of Rabbits SOAEFD y Scottish Countryside Premium Scheme 11/03/96 01/05/96 Consultation Paper Sustrans n National Cycle Network Guidelines and 11/03/96 24/07/96 Practical Details SOAEFD y Fishing vessels Decommissioning Scheme 15/03/96 11/04/96 SOAEFD y Shellfish Health proposed Establishment of 19/00/96 11/04/96 Approved Zones in Great Britain Free from Bonamia and Mateilia The Scottish Office y Draft practice for Local plan inquiries 25/03/96 03/05/96 Development in Scotland Department (SODD) SOAEFD y Scotland’s Coast: A Discussion Paper 01/04/96 05/07/96 The Scottish n Commission on the Future of the Voluntary Council for Voluntary Sector in Scotland 29/04/96 19/06/96 Organisations (SCVO ) Marine Safety Agency y Lord Donaldson’s Recommendation 50 The 08/05/96 Reply Direct Seaway Code East Scotland Water n Consultation on the Preparation of Our 09/05/96 29/05/96 Corporate Plan Historic Scotland y Protecting The Built Heritage A Green Paper 24/05/96 30/09/96 Home Office y Consultation Paper on the EC Data Protection 03/06/96 17/07/96 Directive (95/46/EC) SODD y Draft National Planning Policy Guideline 03/06/96 25/07/96 Transport and Planning SOAEFD y Fisheries Conservation Group 05/06/96 Answered by English Nature & JNCC Inland Waterways n Britain’s Inland Waterways An Undervalued 03/06/96 16/08/96 Amenity Advisory Asset Council SODD y Review of Town & Country Planning System 12/06/96 Reply Direct in Scotland Consultation on Proposed Changes to The Town & Country Planning (Inquiries Procedures) (Scotland) 1980 SOAEFD y National Air Quality Strategy 18/06/96 05/07/96 Forestry Commission y The UK Forestry Standard 25/06/96 27/09/96 The Scottish Office y On the Record in