Allonby Bay Marine Conservation Zone

Laurence Browning, Natural England

Outline

• Background to MCZs• Allonby Bay overview• Reference area• Features• Tranche 2• Natural England's role• Questions

Background

• Marine And Coastal Access Act 2009• Regional Projects• Stakeholder led• Ecological Network Guidance• Recommendations Sept 2011

Allonby Bay rMCZ - Overview

• Adjoins southern end of Solway Firth Special Area of Conservation

• Intertidal and subtidal

Reference area

• Site originally contained a recommended Reference Area

• RAs not being taken forward in current form

• Features are still in wider site

Features of Allonby Bay

• Broadscale habitats proposed by regional project:– A1.1 High energy intertidal rock– A2.7 Intertidal biogenic reefs– A5.1 Subtidal coarse sediment– A5.2 Subtidal sand

• Habitat Features of Conservation Importance proposed by regional project:– Blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) beds– Peat and clay exposures– Honeycomb worm (Sabellaria alveolata) reefs– Subtidal sands and gravels

A1.1 High energy intertidal rock

A2.7 Intertidal biogenic reefs

A5.1 Subtidal coarse sediment

A5.2 Subtidal sand

Blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) beds

Peat and clay exposures

Honeycomb worm (Sabellaria alveolata) reefs

Subtidal sands and gravels? Others?

Allonby Bay as a Tranche 2 MCZ

• 37 sites announced 24th Feb • 3 in inshore Irish Sea region• Gap analysis: Which sites fill gaps in the network?• Ecological coherence and biogeographic scale• Following NE advice, Defra will decide which sites and

features to take through to public consultation

The long list

Natural England and MCZs

• MCZs are designated directly by Defra in contrast with e.g. SSSIs• Natural England has four distinct roles in the MCZ Project:

1. Project management;

2. Providing advice to Government;

3. Engaging as a stakeholder in the development of MCZ recommendation;

4. Build support and understanding of the MCZ Project.

Natural England’s advice

• Covers:– Adequacy of recommended features to meet guidance– Confidence in feature presence and extent– Vulnerability assessment of features (or direct judgement of

feature condition)– Setting Conservation Objectives / Management Approach– Site risk– General site characterisation

Timeline

• Advice on Region Projects' recommendations (all 127) July 2012 with amendments later in 2012

• Tranche 1 consultation Dec 2012 – March 2013• Tranche 1 Post-consultation advice August 2013• Tranche 1 sites designated Dec 2013• Announcement of Tranche 2 ‘long list’ Feb 2014• Tranche 2 Pre-consultation advice August 2014• Tranche 2 consultation ~early 2015• Tranche 2 post-consultation advice ~summer 2015• Tranche 2 designation ~late 2015

Public consultation

• Defra will announce• Chance to submit information on anything that could affect the sites

being consulted on:– Biological data– Socio-economic

Thank you! Questions?