Humber Estuary designations andconservation objectives.

Humber Conference24th November 2011

© Photos by Graham Catley/Nyctea Ltd

Humber Estuary designationsand conservation objectives.

Covered in this talk:- Why the Humber Estuary Important?- Natural England’s work on the Humber Estuary:

-The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations2010 (a.k.a. The Habs Regs)

-The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended)- The Conservation Objectives.

Why is the Humber Estuary Important?• Designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC),

Special Protection Area (SPA), Site of Special Scientific Interest(SSSI) and Ramsar site.

• Covers an area of over 37,000 Hectares and 14km at itswidest point.

• Largest macro-tidal coastal estuary in the British North Sea,draining about 20% of the total surface area of England.

• In the non-breeding season, regularly supports over 150,000individual waterbirds.

• Supports a huge variety of other habitats and species....

Spurn

© Photos by Graham Catley/Nyctea Ltd

Boothferry

Keadby

Donna Nook

Humber Estuary designations.

• The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010(formerly The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.)Regulations 1994) – SAC and SPA (commonly known asEuropean or Natura 2000 sites).• Establish and maintain “Favourable Conservation Status”

of European Sites – assess condition every 6 years.– Provide advice on any plan or project that may impact on

the European designated site.– Has a set process that goes through various stages

Necessary for the management of the site?

Likely Significant Effect?

Appropriate Assessment – Adverse Affect on Integrity

Conditions to remove AAonI

No Alternatives?

Imperative Reasons of Overriding Public Interest (IROPI) - SoS

Compensation

The Habitats Regulations Process

Humber Estuary designations.

Humber Estuary designations.

• The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as ammendedby the Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act 2000 and the NaturalEnvironment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006) – SSSI– NE List of Operations Requiring Natural England’s Consent (ORNEC).– Notice of proposal to carry out an operation that could potentially

damage a SSSI or Appendix 3 or 4 from EA.– Consent (28E – Landowners), Assent (28H – Public Authority under

28G) or Advice (28I – PA giving consent).– Public Service Agreement (PSA) – 95% of SSSIs in Favourable or

Unfavourable Recovering Condition by the end of 2010.• Condition assessments• Units.

Conservation Objectives

• Conservation Objectives define the desired state foreach site in terms of the features for which they havebeen designated.

• SPAs and SACs are generally underpinned by Sites ofSpecial Scientific Interest (SSSIs)

• Favourable Condition Tables (FCT) are written foreach SSSI

• FCTs underpin the Conservation Objectives and coverall site features

• FCTs set attributes and monitoring targets which,along with the conservation objectives, informassessment of likely significance and adverse effecton integrity

EXAMPLE

Conservation ObjectivesName of Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)Humber EstuaryNames of designated international sitesSpecial Area for Conservation (SAC) Humber EstuarySpecial Protection Area (SPA) Humber EstuaryRamsar Humber EstuaryRelationship between site designationsThe Humber Estuary SSSI is a component SSSI of the wider SPA/Ramsar designation of the Humber Estuary. The othercomponent SSSI’s of the Humber Estuary SPA/Ramsar site are North Killingholme Haven Pits SSSI, The Lagoons SSSI andSaltfleetby-Theddlethorpe Dunes SSSI.

Version control informationStatus of this Version(Draft, Consultation Draft, Final)

Final

Prepared by Will MaclennanDate of this version November 2011

Date of generic guidance on favourablecondition used

CSM guidance for: birds (2004); reptiles and amphibians (2004); vascular plants (2004);sand dunes (2004); saltmarsh (2004); standing waters (2005); inshore sublittoralsediments (2004); littoral sediments (2004); estuaries (2004); lagoons (2004); marinemammals (2005); CSM provisional guidance for invertebrates (2008); CSM for earthscience sites (2004); Conservation objectives and monitoring Geological guidance(2006).

Other notes/version history

Quality assurance informationChecked by Name Date

Signature

Example

EXAMPLE

Site-specific standards defining favourable conditionCriteria feature Attribute term in

guidanceMeasure Site-specific Targets Comments Use

forCA?

Littoral SedimentSaltmarsh(including AtlanticSalt Meadows)

Vegetationstructure: zonationof vegetation

The width of zones can beestimated using one or moretransects extending fromstrand to lowest continuousmarsh. The GPS informationcan be collected and markedon a map.

Maintain the baseline range of saltmarshzonations for the inner, middle and outerestuary, NVC communities and Annex 1 habitats.The baseline should be taken as that recorded inthe Bullens (2001) and Dargie (2001) surveys.

The NVC saltmarsh categories recorded withinthe Humber Estuary (Bullens 2001):Pioneer marsh: dominated by SM6, some SM8;Low- mid marsh: SM10 SM11, SM12 SM13.SM13a, SM13b, SM13c, SM13f, SM14, SM14a,SM14c; Mid-upper marsh – SM15, SM16. Uppermarsh is unusually dominated by SM24.Transitional communities SM28, SM4.The NVC saltmarsh categories recorded on NorthLincolnshire coast (Dargie, 2001):Large extent of pioneer marsh (SM6, SM8, SM 9,SM10, SM11, SM12); Low-mid-marsh SM10,SM11, SM12, SM13 SM14, Mid - Upper marshSM15, SM16, SM24 extensive.The outcome sought is the maintenance of thegeneral character of the saltmarshes of theHumber in terms of the continued presence andvariation of the saltmarsh zones with localdifferences reflected – it is not to seek theretention of zones in situ but to allow them toshift and evolve in line with natural processes.Transitional communities MG11.

Yes

Littoral Sediment :Saltmarsh(including AtlanticSalt Meadows)

Vegetationstructure: swardheight

This can be assessed bytaking average sward heightfrom the quadrats formingpart of the structured walk

Maintain site-specific structural variation in thesward.For marshes currently and/or historically grazedor cut maintain the saltmarsh area as a mosaic ofshort turf swards (5 – 15 cm) interspersed withareas of tussocks (>15cm). These habitatsshould ideally occur together in roughly equalamounts, although actual levels will bedetermined by accessibility to grazinganimals/birds, vulnerability to coastal erosion aswell as the distribution and requirements ofnationally important species.

Stocking levels need to be appropriate to theinterest of the site. Over-grazing, and under-grazing, can lead to loss of rare plant species andaffect bird breeding and feeding habitats, inaddition under-grazing can lead to a loss of plantdiversity by competitive exclusion. A variedvegetation structure is important for maintaininginvertebrate diversity.

Yes

Conservation Objectives - An example of a Favourable Condition Table

Any Questions?

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Graham Catley and Tim Page for their lovely photos.