Natural England - Guidance and advice about Marine Conservation Zones
Guidance and advice about Marine Conservation Zones
Guidance, advice and information has been produced to help people understand the Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) Project and to help the regional MCZ projects make recommendations for where possible MCZs might be located.
General information about the MCZ Project
- MCZ Project information document
(JNCC) - Natural England's roles and responsibilities in the MCZ Project: (48kb)
Advice used by the regional MCZ projects and the regional stakeholder groups (RSGs) to help them make recommendations for Marine Conservation Zones.
Making recommendations
- Identifying Marine Conservation Zones: A quick reference guide: (2.34mb)
A quick reference version of the Ecological Network Guidance (ENG) intended for use by the RSGs and sometimes regerred to as the ENG Summary. - Ecological Network Guidance FAQs: (140kb)
The official response to some of the main questions that were asked about the ENG by stakeholders and the regional MCZ projects. - MCZ Project Conservation Objective Guidance: (1.1mb) and Summary: (349kb).
Advice that sets out the process for drafting a conservation objective for the features identified within the proposed MCZs. - Supplementary Advice to the Ecological Network Guidance on Cetaceans: (154kb)
Data
- Information on the data available to the RSGs to develop Marine Conservation Zone recommendations: (308kb).
- Guiding principles for ownership, use and custodianship of Data: (108kb)
Evidence
- Information on the levels of evidence required for the identification, designation and management of MCZs: (1.29mb).
- Top line information about using Evidence to underline decisions about MCZs: (83kb)
Socio-economics
- General advice on assessing potential impacts of and mitigation for human activities on MCZ features, using existing regulation and legislation: (1.08mb)
- Advice on what activities will be restricted, or require mitigation, within the MCZ reference areas: (192kb).
- Advice on the impacts of MCZs on information provision and decisions in relation to marine licensing proposals: (394kb).
- Advice on fisheries impacts on Marine Conservation Zone habitat features: (1.16mb).
- Draft assumptions for use in the Impact Assessment for MCZs about the additional mitigation of impacts from certain licensed activities that is likely to be required for features protected by MCZs: (138kb).
Related research reports
Guidance on the size and spacing of Marine Protected Areas in England (NECR037) (2010)
