FEATURE SPONSOR
LEGAL EAGLES
The standard covers SACs, SPAs and MCZs where they are situated within England’s territorial waters, i.e. 12 nautical miles. It is hoped similar standards can be applied to sites outside territorial waters.
A MORE CONSISTENT APPROACH The standard will assist in providing a more consistent approach to the management of such matters as…
• The assessment of the effects of any plans or projects or acts
• The development of management plans • The identification of management measures for ongoing activities
• The identification of conservation management measures
• The monitoring and assessment of the condition of the site
Whilst the operational standard is aimed at Natural England staff who are responsible for advice production, the standard is also intended to provide a reference for all stakeholders to provide clarity on how advice in marine protected areas will be developed. The standard is also linked and should be applied in conjunction with Natural England’s ‘Strategic Standard on Conservation Objects for European Sites in England’ and their ‘Evidence Strategic Standard 2013’.
DRAFT STANDARD The draft standard itself runs to some 52 pages and therefore it is not possible to reproduce it in detail in this article. However, the structure of the standard is as follows…
• Firstly, it sets out the principles of conservation advice for marine protected areas
• Secondly, it sets out the structure of conservation advice for marine protected areas
• Thirdly it provides a nine stage approach to develop and review conservation advice
THE PRINCIPLES OF MARINE CONSERVATION ADVICE The new standard has developed the following principles for new conservation advice…
• Conservation advice should be easily accessible
• Advice should be consistent in approach and structure
• Advice should be written to be as clear and stakeholder focused as possible
• There should be clear guidance for its internal production and external use
• Stakeholders should be engaged in the production of advice and any additional guidance
• Information provided as advice should be quantified where there is sufficient supporting evidence to do so
• The best available evidence should be utilised and the confidence limits of the advice stipulated
• The best available evidence on the features condition should be used to inform their conservation objectives
• Advice should be updated as and when the evidence base improves and should be used to inform condition monitoring and research
• The effectiveness of advice should be regularly assessed and waste continuously improved identified
• The activities that could impact a site’s features should be clearly identified
STRUCTURE OF MARINE PROTECTED AREA CONSERVATION ADVICE New conservation advice for each area will be produced and will have five key sections…
• A site overview and feature descriptions • Condition information, being advised on the current condition of each feature and sub-feature where possible
• Conservation objectives, representing a high level objective for each site to achieve, supported with supplementary advice setting targets against identified ecological attributes
• Advice on operations describing a sensitivity of features to pressures and information as to which activities could cause an impact to the features
• Site maps to provide detail on the site boundary and the location of features and sub-features of supporting habitats within that site
NINE STAGE APPROACH TO PRODUCING MPA CONSERVATION ADVICE The standard will also provide a nine stage approach to the production of conservation advice for each marine protected area. These nine stages are as follows…
1 Preparation 2 Mapping 3 Feature, sub-feature and supporting habitat descriptions.
4 Site overview and condition assessment
5 Advice on operations 6 Conservation objectives 7 Senior advisor and internal technical quality assessment
8 External dialogue with stakeholders and the resolution of issues 9 Sign off and publication
Of most relevance to stakeholders in the renewable industry will be stage 8, being the external dialogue and issue resolution. A timetable of 20 days has been suggested for this within the overall timetable and the process aims to share and discuss the advice obtained to that stage with relevant authorities and stakeholders. It is anticipated the joint meeting would be arranged by Natural England’s lead advisor with all relevant authorities and stakeholders present.
Finally, the standard also anticipates independent external review and amendments to conservation advice produced pursuant to it. This will be reviewed by the Conservation Advice National Stakeholder Advisory Group as well as the Conservation Advice External Advisory Group.
Once approved and published, the Standard should hopefully streamline the process with regards to obtaining conservation advice for MPAs, meaning that stakeholders should obtain consistent advice with regard to their interaction with MPAs whatever the official designation of that MPA is.
Andrew Oliver Andrew Jackson Solicitors
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www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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