Designated Marine SPAs
SPAs with marine components
A network of terrestrial SPAs has already been established
in the UK, and some of these existing SPAs have marine
components.
SPAs with marine components are defined as those sites with
qualifying Birds Directive 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*. In this
context 119
bird species make significant use of the marine
environment around the UK (and Gibraltar).
The SPA site selection process
has so far been used to designate 107 SPAs with marine
components in the UK. Three of these sites
are entirely marine SPAs:
- Bae Caerfyrddin/Carmarthen Bay SPA (Wales)
- Outer Thames Estuary SPA (England)
- Liverpool Bay/Bae Lerpwl SPA (England/Wales)
Downloads:
Marine interest features of SPAs with
marine components
GIS
boundary data for SPAs with marine components
(last updated August 2010)
*The following SPA habitat classes are considered
marine as they are covered (continuously or intermittently) by the
sea: N01 Marine areas and Sea inlets; N02 Tidal rivers,
Estuaries, Mud flats, Sand flats and Lagoons (including saltwork
basins); N03 Salt marshes, Salt pastures and Salt steppes
Seabird colony SPAs
Some coastal SPAs comprising 'N05 Shingle, Islets or Sea cliff
habitats' contain qualifying Birds Directive Annex I species or
regularly occurring migratory species that are dependent on the
marine environment. However, where coastal SPAs do not include
significant intertidal or subtidal areas, they are not
considered to be ‘SPAs with marine components’.
Contingent on Government policy, seabird colony SPAs may be
extended seawards to encompass marine areas in the future. For
example, 31 of Scotland’s seabird breeding
colony SPAs were extended to protect their adjacent
marine habitats from 25 September 2009. See marine extensions to existing seabird breeding
colony SPAs for more details.