JNCC creates and collates marine habitat maps to help target conservation and management of human activities at sea. All our data is published freely.
Contents
Areas of Work
Our marine habitat mapping work falls in three categories:
- We create new habitat maps using the data collected from offshore surveys. These detailed maps help to characterise sites that have never been surveyed before and provide a snapshot in time to help us monitor changes in habitat extent. See:
- We compile habitat maps from multiple sources into composite products that target specific questions, such as ‘where are all the cold-water coral reefs in the UK?’ and ‘what proportion of the seafloor is rocky?’ The most widely-used products are:
- EUNIS level 3 combined map for the UK
- Habitats Directive Annex I marine habitats in the UK
- OSPAR threatened and/or declining habitats in the NE Atlantic
- Habitats of national priority – Priority Marine Features in Scotland and Features of Conservation Importance in England and offshore Wales/N Ireland
- Where detailed data is sparse we predict the extent of habitats based on other information such as depth, sediment type and other environmental conditions, see:
Use of Information
The information gained through this work is used to:
- Provide evidence for JNCC’s operational work, such as characterising and monitoring marine protected areas in UK waters beyond 12 nm from the coast.
- Provide standardised, consistent evidence for UK-wide and international assessments of the health of the marine environment.
- Meet the requirements of specific externally-funded projects e.g. JNCC led the 2017-2019 phase of the EU-funded EMODnet Seabed Habitats project, which is responsible for the production of the EUSeaMap broad-scale seabed habitat map and the EMODnet Seabed Habitats portal, which provides free access to marine habitat maps across Europe.
Much of this work is done in collaboration with other UK public bodies and project partners from across Europe.
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