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Refining the criteria for defining areas with a ‘low resemblance’ to Annex I stony reef 2020

Abstract

On 14 May 2020, JNCC hosted a workshop with the country nature conservation bodies (CNCBs) regarding the Habitats Directive Annex I habitat stony reef. The workshop was organised to discuss and further refine guidance for defining areas with a ‘low resemblance’ to Annex I stony reef. Since 2008, the original guidance on defining stony reef (Irving 2009) had been used extensively; applied within the inshore (less than 12 nm) and offshore (beyond 12 nm) UK waters, it has been used for tasks ranging from identifying Annex I stony reef through to dealing with appropriate assessments for casework.

The CNCBs reported on the range of Annex I stony reef in their respective regions, within and outwith their Marine Protected Area networks; and provided feedback on particular challenges they had experienced using the existing stony reef guidance. New concepts were presented and explored using available information on biota to help differentiate various classes of Annex I stony reef. The concept of patchiness was also explored in more detail, following research that had taken place after the initial stony reef workshop in 2008. Overarching guidance was developed which will assist practitioners in using the stony reef guidance in a more structured and repeatable way.

Recommendations coming out of the workshop, and agreed by all participants, will ensure that these new concepts discussed will be tested over the coming year in a variety of different biogeographical regions, ensuring their compatibility across inshore and offshore waters, and with a view to potentially integrating these concepts into further refinement of the Annex I stony reef guidance into the future.

The following accompanying appendices are available as additional resources:

  • Appendix 4: Natural Resources Wales Stony Reef Overview (copy of presentation)
  • Appendix 5: Areas with a ‘low resemblance’ to stony reef: an inshore MPA perspective (copy of presentation by Natural England)
  • Appendix 6: Offshore MPAs with stony reef (copy of presentation by JNCC)
  • Appendix 7: Defining Reefiness – inclusion of ‘low stony reef’ as Annex I Reef feature (paper by Paul Brazier, NRW)
  • Appendix 7 accompanying spreadsheet – Stony reef biotopes Biotopes Species matrix (provided in 2024)
  • Appendix 8: Patchiness (copy of presentation by JNCC)

The original guidance (Irving 2009) was published as JNCC Report 432, as proceedings of a workshop held in Peterborough on 26 and 27 March 2008.

These resources may not be fully accessible for all users. If you need a copy in a different or more accessible format, please contact Communications@jncc.gov.uk.

Resource type Publication

Topic category Oceans

Reference date 2020·08·01

Citation
Golding. N., Albrecht. J. & McBreen. F. 2020. Refining criteria for defining areas with a ‘low resemblance’ to Annex I stony reef. JNCC Report No. 656, JNCC, Peterborough, ISSN 0963-8091.

Lineage
This report is based on a JNCC-hosted workshop with the country nature conservation bodies in May 2020 which aimed to further refine the definition of Annex I stony reef.

Responsible organisation
Communications, JNCC publisher

Limitations on public access No limitations

Use constraints Available under the Open Government Licence 3.0

Metadata date 2024·05·09

Metadata point of contact
Communications, JNCC

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