Marine SACs Project - To develop and promote the necessary conservation measures for UK marine SACS (LIFE96 NAT/UK/003055)

The UK Marine SACs project is a partnership between English Nature (http://www.english-nature.org.uk/), Scottish Natural Heritage (http://www.snh.org.uk/), Countryside Council for Wales (http://www.ccw.gov.uk/), Environment and Heritage Service DoE Northern Ireland (http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/), Joint Nature Conservation Committee (http://www.jncc.gov.uk/) and the Scottish Association for Marine Science (http://www.ccms.ac.uk/). Funding is provided by the UK’s nature conservation bodies and matched equally by the European Commission’s Life – Nature Programme

Protecting the key nature conservation interests of marine Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) - which around the UK range from coastal lagoons and estuaries to sea caves and reefs - is a complex task. These areas tend to be of high economic value and are heavily used for a host of functions (e.g. fisheries, recreation, industry, etc.). Any of these uses may pose a threat to marine wildlife and habitats. The UK government has new legislation which provides for management schemes to be established for marine SACs, designed to make sure that any uses of the sites are compatible with the conservation needs of the habitats and species of European interest. The project will establish the first of these schemes on 12 sites around the UK and pave the way for others.

Duration – May 1996 to February 2001

The results of the project which include a variety of publications are presented on the English Nature web site http://www.english-nature.org.uk/ under 'Special Sites' the 'UK Marine Sacs