The Inter-Agency Marine Monitoring Group (MMG) is an
established inter-agency group of specialist monitoring staff from
the conservation agencies (CCW, EHS, SNH, Natural England (formally
English Nature)) and JNCC, who provide the chair and
secretariat. It was set up in 1999 to oversee the delivery of
monitoring tasks under the
UK
Marine SACs project and to help in the production of the
Marine Monitoring Handbook.
Since the end of the UK Marine SACs project in 2001, the MMG
has evolved into a more formal inter-agency group and acts as a
working group to the Inter-Agency Monitoring Group (IAMG)
whose role is developing Common Standards for Monitoring on
designated conservation sites across the UK. MMG has been
contributing to the
Common Standards Monitoring (CSM) programme
being developed by JNCC by producing national guidance on setting
conservation objectives for marine features. Technical aspects of
this guidance is provided by the
Marine
Monitoring Handbook which also contributes to the common
standards process and provides details of suitable field
methodologies (in the form of Procedural Guidelines) for
undertaking condition assessments of habitat interest
features.