Download Background to draft conservation advice

20/12/2016 Draft_Dogger_Bank_Cons_Advice_background.docx
Background to our draft conservation advice
JNCC has a statutory obligation to establish and advise on the conservation objectives of the site and
advise on those operations capable of adversely affecting the integrity of this site under the Habitats
Directive as transposed into Regulation 18 of the Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitat, &c.)
Regulations 2007 (as amended) (hereafter referred to as the Offshore Regulations). These two
aspects are collectively called ‘conservation advice’ for a site.
JNCC’s conservation advice fulfils these obligations and supports individuals who are:
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proposing to undertake an activity that may affect the site;
preparing or providing information for a Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA) of an activity
that may affect the site. You can find further guidance on undertaking HRA in Defra’s Habitats
& Birds Directive Implementation Guidance; and
considering the need to implement measures to manage human activities within the site;
Our advice has been developed using the best available evidence and expert interpretation in
accordance with JNCC’s Evidence Quality Assurance Policy, following best practice in Defra’s 2012
Habitats Directive Implementation Review recommendations and the European Commission’s 2012
Guidance Note on setting conservation objectives. Our draft advice now includes information on the
anticipated conservation benefits i.e. ecosystem services that the site provides locally and to the
wider marine environment. This information should support users when assessing the impact of a
proposed activity on ecosystem services as required under the newly amended Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) Directive (2014/52/EU1).
It is important that you use our most up-to-date conservation advice. Our scientific understanding of
the ecology and status of the site will change over time and our advice will be periodically updated as
required to reflect this. We will communicate any changes to our advice through the Site Information
Centre. Users should always refer to our website rather than use any previously downloaded (or
printed) versions of our advice to check for the most up-to-date version.
Should you have any queries regarding our advice or know of any information pertinent to this site
that we should be aware of, please contact us, making sure to insert the site’s name into the
message header.
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Accessible here: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eia/review.htm