Environment (Wales) Act Section 7 and OSPAR: Marine Habitats

Published by:
Natural Resources Wales
Last updated:
14 October 2025
Topic:
Not added
Licence:
None

Summary

Under the Environment (Wales) Act (2016), Section 7 requires biodiversity lists to be produced. These lists include types of habitats which are of 'Principle Importance' for the purpose of maintain and enhancing biodiversity in relation to Wales. This list supersedes the duty in Section 42 of the NERC Act 2006. In addition to this marine habitats can be protected under the OSPAR Convention, which has established a list of 'threatened and/or declining species and habitats' in the North-East Atlantic. This spatial dataset details the extent and location of those marine habitats classed of 'Principle Importance' under Section 7 and are regarded as 'threatened or declining' under OSPAR in Wales. Habitats include: Carbonate Reefs, Estuarine Rock, Honeycomb Worm Sabellaria alveolata, Intertidal Underboulder, Mud habitats in deep water, Musculus Discors Green crenella Beds, Blue Mussel Beds (listed under OSPAR aswell), Fragile Sponge and Anthozoans (listed under OSPAR aswell), Horse Mussel Modiolus Bed (listed under OSPAR aswell), Intertidal Mudflats (listed under OSPAR aswell), Maerl Beds live and dead (listed under OSPAR aswell), Sabellaria spinulosa reef (listed under OSPAR aswell), Saline Lagoons (listed under OSPAR aswell), Saltmarsh, Seagrass Beds (listed under OSPAR aswell), Seapens And Burrowing Megafauna (listed under OSPAR aswell), Peat Clay Exposures (listed under OSPAR aswell), Sheltered Muddy Gravel (listed under OSPAR aswell), Subtidal Mix Mud Sediments (listed under OSPAR aswell), Tide Swept Channels (listed under OSPAR aswell), Oyster Beds (OSPAR only).

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Additional information

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Added to data.gov.uk
2024-12-09
Access contraints
Part of this dataset is sensitive and restricted as it contains data exempt from general release under EIR. Sensitive data must be kept confidential; general release is not permitted due to risk of harm to the environment or third parties.
Harvest GUID
NRW_DS122453
Extent
Latitude: 53.985471° to °
Longitude: -6.918448° to -1.986869°
Spatial reference system
Dataset reference date
2023-02-03 (publication)
Frequency of update
asNeeded
Responsible party
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) (owner, custodian, originator, distributor)
ISO 19139 resource type
dataset
Metadata language
eng
Source Metadata
XML
HTML

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