This spreadsheet contains Special Protection Areas (SPAs) with marine components are defined as those sites with qualifying Birds Directive (2009/147/EC) Annex I species or regularly occurring migratory species that are dependent on the marine environment for all or part of their lifecycle, where these species are found in association with intertidal or subtidal habitats.
The definition of SPAs with marine components is set out in the following paper:
http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/MN2KPG16_13_MN2KDefs.pdf
PLEASE NOTE - through ongoing UK MPA stocktake work (http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-7438) the SPA qualifying interest features that are considered 'marine' (as opposed to terrestrial-only) are being reviewed. Furthermore, the recommendations of the 2001 SPA review are at different stages of implemention in the UK (particularly with regard to the submission of updated site details to the European Commission, upon which this dataset depends). Therefore the "SPA Marine Interest Features" of inshore SPAs provided here may not be the latest data on SPA features formally adopted by the respective Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage and Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs (Northern Ireland); the relevant Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies should be contacted for the latest data on inshore SPA marine qualifying interest features. This issue does not apply to offshore SPAs and SPAs classified or amended in 2017, for which this dataset is fully up-to-date.
The SPA Sites worksheet lists the sites with marine components and their reference attributes. This includes: Site code, Site name, Site status, Country, CP2 Region, Feature type, Marine interest features, Common name, Population type and Annex I/ROMS. Please note that habitats are not listed as qualifying interest features of SPAs but are documented in section 4.1 (General site character) of the Standard Natura 2000 Data Form. For this reason we list marine habitats in SPAs separately in the SPA Marine Habitats worksheet.
This dataset is supported by a shapefile available at: http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/ProtectedSites/SACselection/gis_data/terms_conditions.asp
