In Scotland, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are areas of sea defined so as to protect to habitats, wildlife, geology, undersea landforms, historic shipwrecks, and to demonstrate sustainable management of the sea. As of December 2020, approximately 37% of Scotland's seas are covered by the Scottish MPA network, which comprises 244 sites in total. [1]
As of December 2020 Scotland's MPA network comprises 244 sites protected by a variety of different conservation designations, [3] many of which are the same as those used on land, such as Special Protection Areas (SPA) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). [4] [5] This figure includes four sites designated in December 2020: [6] [7] North-east Lewis; Shiant East Bank; Sea of the Hebrides; and the Southern Trench.
The legal framework for designating MPAs depends on the designation: for example SSSIs are designated under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004. [8] Where not designated under other conservation legislation MPAs are designated under one of two acts of parliament, depending on their location:
Sites are designated as MPAs under these acts for one of three purposes: [11]
In addition to the statutory MPAs, five sites are recognised as forming part of the Scottish MPA network, being categorised as "other area based measures": such areas, although not specifically created for nature conservation purposes, are considered to contribute to the protection of marine biodiversity. The makeup of the network as of December 2020 is detailed in the table below: [3]
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The lead body for management of the MPAs is Marine Scotland. For nature conservation sites within territorial waters NatureScot is responsible for developing the network and providing scientific advice to Scottish Government on the selection of sites, and providing advice to Marine Scotland on management once sites are designated. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee fulfils this role for sites in offshore waters, and also has a coordinating role for nature conservation in all the UK's offshore waters. [8] Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for historic MPAs. [12]
Activities undertaken in an MPA can be managed through voluntary measures, or by implementation of Marine Conservation Orders or Inshore Fishing Orders. Management measures (such as restrictions on the type of fishing gear that can be used) may be in place for all or part of an MPA, and may only apply at certain times of year. [11] Environmental groups have criticised the government for failing to enforce fishing rules around MPAs. [13]
These tables list those MPAs not covered by other designations (i.e. excluding SACs, SPAs, and SSSIs etc.) as of December 2020. [14] [15]
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There is one Demonstration and Research MPA, in the waters surrounding Fair Isle. The MPA was designated on 9 November 2016. [68] The aims of this MPA designation are defined as being:
To demonstrate and research the use of an ecosystem approach, which includes the following -
a) the environmental monitoring of seabirds and of other mobile marine species;
b) the environmental monitoring of the factors which influence the populations of seabirds and of other mobile species;
c) the development and implementation of a local sustainable shellfish fishery;
d) the development of a research programme into local fisheries which includes research on species composition, size, distribution and temporal and spatial changes in fish stocks;e) based upon the research undertaken under sub-paragraph (d), the development of a sustainable-use management programme for local fisheries.
— Scottish Government [69]
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Two further Historic MPAs are also proposed as of 2020, with an Historic Environment Scotland consultation exercise having closed on 27 November. [71] The two proposed sites are: [72]
The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles. The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula, which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran. Within the Firth of Clyde is another major island – the Isle of Bute. Given its strategic location at the entrance to the middle and upper Clyde, Bute played a vital naval military role during World War II.
Loch Long is a sea loch situated on the western coast of Scotland, in the Highlands. It is a popular destination for tourists and fishers.
Loch Carron is a sea loch on the west coast of Ross and Cromarty in the Scottish Highlands, which separates the Lochalsh peninsula from the Applecross peninsula, and from the Stomeferry headland east of Loch Kishorn. It is the point at which the River Carron enters the North Atlantic Ocean.
The Sea of the Hebrides is a small and partly sheltered section of the North Atlantic Ocean, indirectly off the southern part of the north-west coast of Scotland. To the east are the mainland of Scotland and the northern Inner Hebrides ; to the west are the southern Outer Hebrides islands, principally South Uist, Eriskay, and Barra. To the north is the Little Minch, a channel connecting it with the Minch.
Boddam is a village on the island of Mainland, in Shetland, Scotland.
Loch Creran is a sea loch in Argyll, on the west coast of Scotland. It is about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) long from its head at Invercreran to its mouth on the Lynn of Lorne, part of Loch Linnhe. The loch separates the areas of Benderloch to the south and Appin to the north. The island of Eriska lies at the mouth of the loch. The loch is bridged at its narrowest point at Creagan, by the A828 road. The village of Barcaldine lies on the south shore of the loch.
Loch Alsh is a sea inlet between the isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides and the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The name is also used to describe the surrounding country and the feudal holdings around the loch. The area is rich in history, and is increasingly popular with tourists.
Loch Sunart is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland. Loch Sunart is bounded to the north by the Sunart district of Ardnamurchan and to the south by the Morvern district. At 31 kilometres (19 mi) long, it is the longest sea loch in the Highland local government area. The maximum depth of the loch is 124 metres, east of Càrna and near the entrance to Loch Teacuis. Other islands in the loch include Oronsay, seaward of Càrna, Risga, which lies between the two larger islands, and Eilean Mòr, which lies towards the landward end of the loch in line with Beinn Resipol.
Rosemary Bank is a seamount approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) west of Scotland, located in the Rockall Trough, in the northeast Atlantic. It was discovered in 1930 by the survey vessel HMS Rosemary, from which it takes its name. It is one of only three seamounts known in Scottish waters.
Loch Sween is a sea loch located near Lochgilphead, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Castle Sween is located on the southern shore towards the seaward end of the loch. The village of Tayvallich, a favoured haven for water craft as it sits at the head of sheltered Loch a' Bhealaich, lies on the northern shore.
A Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) is a type of marine nature reserve in UK waters. They were established under the Marine and Coastal Access Act (2009) and are areas designated with the aim to protect nationally important, rare or threatened habitats and species. Approximately 20% of UK waters now have some protection although some conservation, fisherman and wildlife groups are concerned that there are no management plans for each zone.
Many parts of Scotland are protected in accordance with a number of national and international designations because of their environmental, historical or cultural value. Protected areas can be divided according to the type of resource which each seeks to protect. NatureScot has various roles in the delivery of many environmental designations in Scotland, i.e. those aimed at protecting flora and fauna, scenic qualities and geological features. Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designations that protect sites of historic and cultural importance. Some international designations, such as World Heritage Sites, can cover both categories of site.
This article gives an overview of the structure of environmental and cultural conservation in Scotland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom.
The Faroe–Shetland Channel is stretch of the North Atlantic lying between the two island groups of Shetland and the Faroe Islands. The channel is a rift basin that separates the Scottish and the Faroese continental shelves, and has a maximum depth of 1900 m, compared to the surrounding seabed which mostly lies at 200 m. It was first noted by Charles Wyville Thomson during the mid-nineteenth century.
The name Firth of Forth Banks Complex refers to a complex of sand and gravel sea banks in the North Sea, lying at the mouth of the Firth of Forth in the seas off the east coast of Scotland. From south to north the banks are named the Berwick Bank, the Scalp Bank, the Wee Bankie and the Montrose Bank. Since 2014 the banks have been protected as a single Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area, which comprises three discrete zones covering a total area of 213,000 hectares (2,130 km2) of Scottish Offshore Waters.
The Geikie Slide is a submarine landslide on the seabed of the North Atlantic Ocean to the northwest of Scotland. The slide occurs in a region known as the Hebridean Slope, the continental slope where the seabed drops from the continental shelf surrounding Britain into the deep ocean. Since 2014 an area of 2,215 square kilometres (855 sq mi) has been designated as a Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area under the name Geikie Slide and Hebridean Slope MPA.
Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura Marine Protected Area is a Marine Protected Area (MPA) off the west coast of Scotland. The MPA, which covers 741 km2 (286 sq mi), includes the waters of Loch Sunart, the Sound of Mull, the Firth of Lorne and the Sound of Jura. It has been designated to protect the population of common skate and the area's quaternary geological features. The MPA is designated a Category IV protected area by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The Norwegian Boundary Sediment Plain is a Marine Protected Area (MPA) lying to the northeast of Scotland. The MPA, which covers 164 km2 (63 sq mi), lies at the very edge of Scottish offshore waters, close to the maritime boundary with Norway. The seabed of the sediment plain consists of sand and gravel habitats, and lies at a depth of between 80 and 120 metres below sea level. The sea bed supports creatures such as starfish, crabs and ocean quahogs. The latter, which are large and slow growing clams, have a lifespan of more than 400 years and are thus considered to be amongst the oldest living animals on Earth.
Noss Head is a headland on the north-west coast of Scotland that overlooks Sinclairs Bay. It lies approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north-east of Wick in Caithness, in the Highland council area of Scotland.
The West of Scotland Marine Protected Area covers a large area of the North Atlantic to the west of the Outer Hebrides. The Marine Protected Area (MPA) was designated by the Scottish Government in 2020, replacing the Rosemary Bank MPA, which covered a much smaller area. Covering a sea area of over 100,000 square kilometres (39,000 sq mi), it is the largest marine protected area in Europe.
| Historic Marine Protected Areas | |
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| Nature Conservation MPAs |
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| Demonstration and Research MPA | |
| Marine protected areas by nation | |
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| International marine conservation organisations | |
| Related | |
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