Foreword
The Joint Nature Conservation Committee was brought into being
by the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Amongst its
functions is a requirement to develop common standards throughout
Great Britain for the monitoring of nature conservation and for the
analysis of the resulting information. Developing common
standards for monitoring designated nature conservation sites was a
major task, but standards were piloted during 1998 and became
operational in Great Britain from April 1999. By
agreement with the Environment and Heritage Service, they were also
adopted for use in Northern Ireland. The agreed common
standards include the production of a report every six years.
This report fulfills that requirement. However, the
value of common standards monitoring goes far beyond fulfilling a
reporting requirement. Primarily, it is directed at informing
site management by defining the state of the site that is required
and identifying the need for any further
conservation management action. JNCC and the country
conservation agencies have learnt a lot by doing this work over the
past six years, and still have more to do. Nevertheless, this
is the first time it has been possible to draw together data on the
condition of the features on sites. 57% of the total number
of features in the United Kingdom designated for their nature
conservation value have been reported on. While this falls
short of the 100% intended, it nonetheless represents the most
comprehensive assessment of the United Kingdom's designated
features ever undertaken, and one of the most comprehensive
assessments by any country in the European Union. This
is therefore a landmark publication for UK nature
conservation.
56% of features reported were assessed as being in one or
other of the 'favourable' condition categories; 43% in one or other
of the 'unfavourable' condition categories; with the remaining 1%
assessed as being either partially or wholly destroyed.
Within these figures, there is considerable variation, particularly
for species and habitats. Of the 43% unfavourable features,
16% are in the unfavourable-recovering category, and 11% in the
unfavourable-declining category. Thus, 72% of features
reported on are either in a favourable condition, or are recovering
towards favourable condition. This is probably better news
than we could have anticipated when the programme of work was
commenced. More remains to be done to improve the condition
of features reported as being in unfavourable condition, and the
findings of this report will help to direct conservation effort
where it is most needed. Assessments do, of course, also need
to be completed for all features.
This report is the result of a lot of work, by many people,
over a considerable period of time. It would be invidious to
single out individuals, but the breadth of involvement of staff in
the country nature conservation agencies and the Joint Nature
Conservation Committee, at all levels, should be noted.
Without input from all of them, it would not have been possible to
draw these results together; I thank them all for their
efforts.
Adrian Darby
Chairman, Joint Nature Conservation Committee