Offshore Energy SEA 3: Appendix 1 Environmental Baseline Appendix 1J: Conservation A1j.1 Introduction and purpose There is a wide range of international treaties and conventions, European and national legislation and other measures which have application in relation to the protection and conservation of species and habitats in the UK. These are summarised below as a context and introduction to the site listings which follow. This Appendix provides an overview of the various types of sites relevant to the SEA which have been designated for their international or national conservation importance as well as sites designated for their wider cultural relevance such as World Heritage Sites and sites designated for landscape reasons etc. Other non-statutory sites potentially relevant to the SEA are also included. Using a Geographic Information System (GIS), coastal, marine and offshore sites were identified relevant to each of the regional sea areas and mapped. Terrestrial sites which are wholly or in part within a landward 10km coastal buffer and selected other sites are also mapped. Terrestrial sites outside the buffer are not included here with the exception of summaries for sites whose interest features might be affected by activities offshore e.g. sites designated for breeding red throated divers which may feed offshore. Maps are grouped for each Regional Sea with a brief introduction followed by an outline of the sites and species of nature conservation importance within that Regional Sea. Regional Sea areas 9, 10 and 11 have no contiguous coastline and contain only offshore conservation sites and are grouped with Regional Sea 8. Regional Sea 5 also has no contiguous coastline; it is grouped with Regional Sea 4. A1j.2 Sites and species of international importance The Conservation of Species and Habitats Regulations 2010 consolidates the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 in England and Wales, and also implements certain aspects of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, principally the transfer of certain licensing functions from Natural England to the MMO, and the recognition of Marine Enforcement Officers to be able to use powers under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 and to enforce offences under the Habitats Regulations, within England, Wales and Scotland (for reserved matters) and their respective territorial seas. Devolved administrations implement the Habitats Directive though The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (as amended) in Scotland, and The Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995 (as amended) in Northern Ireland. The Wild Birds Directive is also implemented through the above Regulations, and also through the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 and the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 (as amended). The Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 2007 (as amended) apply the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive beyond territorial waters (beyond 12nm). These Regulations together provide for the designation and protection of European sites and the protection of European Species in the UK and UK waters. Under Article 17 of the Directive, EU Member States are required to report on the conservation status of habitats and species every six years. The latest review was submitted in 2013 and covers the period 2007-2012, and is the third of its kind. The UK level status and trends of species and habitats relevant to this SEA and subject to reporting under Articles 17 are shown in Tables A1j.1 and A1j.2. Similarly, the overall population and breeding range trends, and 771 Offshore Energy SEA 3: Appendix 1 Environmental Baseline population trends for relevant qualifying species under the Birds Directive as reported by the UK under Article 12 are shown in Table A1j.3. This section provides an overview of sites designated as required under international legislation for their scientific, wildlife, natural and cultural heritage and/or landscape value. A1j.2.1 Special Protection Areas (SPA) Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are strictly protected sites classified in accordance with Article 4 of the EC Directive on the conservation of wild birds (2009/147/EC), also known as the Birds Directive (which codified the various amendments to Directive 79/409/EEC made since 1979). They are classified for rare and vulnerable birds, listed in Annex I of the Birds Directive, and for regularly occurring migratory species. A list of Migratory and/or Annex 1 bird species for which SPAs are selected in the UK is given in Box A1j.2. Summary information about the internationally designated Special Protection Areas (SPAs), relevant to each Regional Sea, is tabulated in Section A1j.7. A1j.2.2 Marine SPAs The Birds Directive states that conservation measures should be taken both in “the geographical sea and land area”. Currently, there are 110 SPAs which include marine components in the UK including four wholly marine SPAs in English, Northern Irish and Welsh waters, and 35 seabird colony SPA marine extensions across the UK. The site status definitions are given in Box A1j.1. A list of 44 marine birds for which marine SPAs in the UK are being considered has been compiled by JNCC. These include divers, grebes, several seaduck, and almost all seabirds (black guillemot is neither listed on Annex I, nor considered a migratory species in the UK). Sites for these species are currently being considered within the following four main types of marine SPA (JNCC website): • seaward extensions to existing breeding seabird colony SPAs • inshore aggregations of non-breeding waterbirds • offshore aggregations of seabirds • other types (such as areas used by red-throated divers, terns and shags during the breeding season) Surveys of seabird distribution adjacent to selected breeding colony SPAs in 2001 resulted in recommendations of seaward extensions for certain species. Seaward boundary extensions of 1km were recommended for breeding guillemot (Uria aalge), razorbill (Alca torda) and puffin (Fratercula arctica), 2km for gannet (Morus bassanus) and fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) and 4km for Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) (McSorley et al. 2003, 2006). Recommended extensions for Manx shearwater may exceed 4km where evidence suggests that this is appropriate. Box A1j.1: Special Protection Area site status definitions Special Protection Areas (SPAs): sites that have been adopted by the European Commission and formally designated by the government of each country in whose territory the site lies Potential SPAs (pSPAs): sites that have been approved by UK government and are currently in the process of being classified Draft Special Protection Areas (dSPAs): sites that are likely to be approved by UK government for SPA status Source: JNCC website 772 Offshore Energy SEA 3: Appendix 1 Environmental Baseline Analyses of aerial survey data from inshore areas of known importance to non-breeding waterbirds allows for an assessment of whether a site qualifies as an SPA, and if so, where the seaward boundaries of the site might be defined. Consultation is currently underway (21st January 2016 – 21st April 2006) on nine potential SPAs in English offshore waters. These include two new sites; Solent & Dorset Coast pSPA and Northumberland Marine pSPA, the later includes additional species to be added to the existing Coquet Island SPA, Farne Island SPA and Northumbria Coast SPA sites. The other four pSPAs under consultation are all proposed extensions to existing sites: Poole Harbour, Hamford Water, Morecambe Bay & Duddon Estuary, and Outer Thames Estuary. Several inshore areas around the UK have been surveyed annually (e.g. Lewis et al. 2009); three Welsh sites (Liverpool Bay, Carmarthen Bay and the outer Tay) are currently being considered for designation following recent analyses of both effort related sea (Heinänen & Skov 2015) and land based sightings (Evans et al. 2015). In 2014, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) published information on a suite of marine dSPAs. The sites will be subject to a formal consultation process subject to confirmation on which sites are to be progressed by Scottish Ministers. Other types of SPA which may be identified include important areas for seabirds which may not be captured by the other four categories; these will be considered individually. Marine areas used by red-throated divers, terns and shags during the breeding season are currently under consideration. Seabird migration hotspots are also being investigated. Box A1j.2: Migratory and/or Annex I bird species for which SPAs are selected in the UK Divers and grebes Waders Red-throated diver Gavia stellata Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus Black-throated diver Gavia arctica Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta Little grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis Stone Curlew Burhinus oedicnemus Great crested grebe Podiceps cristatus Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula Slavonian grebe Podiceps auritus Dotterel Charadrius morinellus Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria Seabirds Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis Lapwing Vanellus vanellus Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus Knot Calidris canutus Storm petrel Hydrobates pelagicus Sanderling Calidris alba Leach's petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa Purple Sandpiper Calidris maritima Gannet Morus bassanus Dunlin Calidris alpina alpina Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo carbo Ruff Philomachus pugnax Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis Snipe Gallinago gallinago Guillemot Uria aalge