The moderation process
Cardigan Bay SAC was put forward
as a candidate site in 1996 due to the significance
of the high numbers of bottlenose dolphins found
in the area. In partnership with local interest
groups, the relevant authority group developed a
management plan for the site, which has been in
place since 2001.
In the same year the UK submitted
its candidate Special Areas of Conservation to the
European Council. The European response was that
the UK had not included all of the habitats and
species occurring in UK territory and it must ensure
these features were added and appropriate conservation
measures were developed. This initiated a process
referred to as the “moderation” process.
As a result the Countryside Council for Wales was
required to add the following species and habitats
to the officially designated features of the Cardigan
Bay SAC:
Each feature will require specific
management measures to ensure the conservation objectives
for each are met, as has been done for the bottlenose
dolphins. The addition of these features requires
significant additions to the existing SAC management
plan and the Relevant Authorities are currently
updating the plan to account for the new features
of the site.
The management
plan on this site is therefore a copy of the
original scheme that was developed between 1996
and 2001 solely for the bottlenose dolphins. The
reviewed plan will be posted as soon as it has been
consulted upon and finalised.
