Special Areas of Conservation
by Malcolm Smith
The UK Government and the European Union have accepted six marine Special Areas of Conservation in Welsh seas (see map), two of them among the largest selected in the UK. They include one in Cardigan Bay for its bottlenosed dolphins and gray seals and one along the Pembrokeshire coast for its rich underwater rocky habitats supporting a huge range of plants and animals. Two more potential SACs, the impressive estuaries of the Dee in the northeast and the Severn in the southeast, are under discussion.
So much of our inshore seas are rich in a wide array of habitats and species that around 60 percent by area of these waters are to be designated under the directive if all of our advice is accepted, comments Margaret Hill, Head of Maritime Sciences for the Countryside Council for Wales. Thats a higher proportion than in any other EU member state, she adds.
Some conservationists argue for even more areas of sea to be designated. With wide-ranging species like dolphins, drawing boundaries around sites to be protected is never easy. At Cardigan Bay, for instance, the Countryside Council for Wales has attempted to include all of those places where both adult and young bottlenosed dolphins are most frequently found. But it isnt a perfect science. Our knowledge of the ecology and habitat requirements of marine species is not as good as for land-living species.
Management plans that incorporate the views of a whole host of organizations with responsibilities at sea, users of the sea (such as fishermen, boat-tour operators), and local communities have already been completed for two of the SACs. Their aim for these very special places is sustainable managementso that continued exploitation of fisheries, for instance, never jeopardizes fish stockswhile monitoring and protecting the species and habitats that are of European importance.
While no SACs are currently selected more than 12 miles offshore, the UK Government, with its conservation advisors, is considering with the European Union how it might approach protecting equally important sea areas out to the UKs 200-mile sea limit.
ZooGoer 31(4) 2002. Copyright 2002 Friends of the National Zoo. All rights reserved.
