In the UK almost all
seabirds have some of their breeding sites protected within a
network of breeding colony SPAs. This type of SPA is simply
extending their existing boundaries into the marine environment, if
this is deemed appropriate. The size of the extensions varies
depending on the species breeding at the colony.
The UK’s coastal environment
provides important feeding and moulting areas, as well as migration
staging posts, for non-breeding waterbirds such as divers,
grebes, and seaduck. ‘Inshore’ SPAs will provide protection
for the most important inshore waterbird aggregations.
3. Offshore aggregations of seabirds
All seabirds in the UK rely on various parts of offshore
waters throughout the year, particularly for feeding.
‘Offshore’ SPAs will provide protection for the most important
seabird concentrations in the open sea.
4. Other
types of SPA
Some important areas for marine birds may not be included within
the above three categories and will be considered individually.
Areas of search
To identify possible marine SPAs, JNCC is using both existing
data and new data obtained from targeted bird
surveys. We have produced a series of maps which show our current
(at March 2010) areas of search for the different types of marine
SPA. These maps along with their titles, legends and captions
should be read and interpreted carefully. There’s nothing on
them that presupposes any action by government or devolved
administrations to classify as SPAs any areas of search or parts of
them, important areas or parts of them, concentrations of birds
described as important, or any possible extensions to seabird
colony SPAs that have not already been extended.