Rare sighting
in Aberaeron harbour |
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On the morning of Wednesday the 4th of May
two sea lampreys were found in Aberaeron harbour.
This is a good sign as it is an indication
that this rarely seen and protected species...
Click here
to continue. |
2005 – Are you
aware?
This summer we will be starting
work on the opening of a “Cardigan Bay Boat Place”,
a brand new display room especially devised to provide
those of you who will be sailing the SAC waters
with information on what and where to look for wildlife
and how to best approach it. The interactive and
innovative displays will make this a must visit
for everybody in the area.
Raising awareness is identified as an important
tool in engendering support for the conservation
of Cardigan Bay’s marine environment. We put a lot
of effort into ensuring that information about the
site is easily accessible at coastal sites, in tourist
information centres and public buildings along the
bay.
December
2004 - It is official: |
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Cardigan Bay is amongst the 8
marine* areas in Wales that have formally been
designated as Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
under the European Habitats Directive. They therefore
no longer have to be referred to as candidate
sites (cSAC).
The Directive aims to conserve
and maintain habitats and species of European
and national interest through the establishment
of a network of protected sites (SACs), referred
to as the “Natura 2000 network”. In
all of the UK some 608 cSACs had been proposed
as part of this network, of which 90 in Wales
alone.
On the 7 December 2004, the European Commission
formally adopted the UK list of Special Areas of
Conservation. Cardwyn Jones, the Environment Minister
in the Welsh Assembly Government, then formally
designated the 90 Welsh sites on this list as SACs
on December 13th 2004.
Out of the 608 UK SACs, 37 are
marine of which 8 are in Wales. These are Menai
Strait & Conwy Bay, Cemlyn Bay, Anglesey Coast
(Salt marsh), Lleyn Peninsula & the Sarnau,
Cardigan Bay, Pembrokeshire Marine, Limestone
Coast of South West Wales and the Carmarthen Bay
& Estuaries (the Severn and the Dee Estuaries
have not yet been officially designated). Detailed
information on each SAC can be viewed on the Joint
Nature Conservation Committee and the UK
Marine Special Areas of Conservation websites.
The next formal stage for the Welsh
areas is to be entered in the Welsh Assembly Government’s
“European Sites Register”. Once this
has been done, a copy of the Register will be
available for public consultation at the Countryside
Council for Wales.
*In this
case a marine SAC is understood as a site that
has at least one marine feature classified as
being of interest at national level (grade C in
the European Commission DGXI (1995) classification
system).
4th of March
2005:
New Special Area of Conservation Officer Appointed
Farewell Jamie and welcome Annalisa!
After two years of very successful work as the Cardigan
Bay SAC Officer, Jamie Davies has left us to take
on a project in the Philippines with VSO. We would
like to thank him for all his hard work and welcome
his replacement Annalisa Bianchessi.
The new Officer, who is based at
Ceredigion County Council's Penmorfa Office, Aberaeron
has, as before, three main tasks:
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To promote
increased coordination and cooperation between
all interested groups to ensure that the management
plan is achieving its objectives.
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To be the SAC
'point person'. If you have any questions or comments
concerning the SAC, Annalisa is the person to
contact. She is in a position to follow up any
queries and get you the answers you need.
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To raise the
profile of the SAC by supporting existing education
and outreach activities as well as taking a lead
in new projects.
Please contact Annalisa Bianchessi,
Cardigan Bay SAC Officer, concerning any SAC issue
(Ph. 01545 572139, email: annalisab@ceredigion.gov.uk)
2005 - The management plan review
Since the addition of 6 new features
to the Cardigan Bay SAC in 2001 (see moderation
process) a review of the management plan is
being undertaken to make sure the plan provides
adequate protection for these additional species
and habitats.
As the advisor on nature conservation to the National
Assembly for Wales, the Countryside Council for
Wales is presently considering the detail of conservation
objectives for the new features of the Cardigan
Bay SAC.
The objectives, together with a list of operations
that may cause disturbance to the SAC features,
will then be outlined in a document referred to
as “Regulation 33”. This document will
enable the Relevant Authorities of the Cardigan
Bay SAC to complete the review of the Cardigan Bay
SAC Management Plan.
Unfortunately, there has been a delay with the
issuing of Regulation 33, originally due in 2004
and now expected to be issued in spring/summer 2005.
This means that the management plan review is currently
at a halt. The Relevant Authorities Group has scheduled
a meeting this coming May to address the delay and
try and speed up the review process.
The draft management plan review
will be sent out for consultation and a Liaison
Group meeting will be held (hopefully in late autumn
2005) in order to give the local community and different
stakeholders the opportunity to discuss and contribute
to the reviewed management plan before it is finalised.
For any queries regarding the SAC
and the management plan please don’t hesitate
to contact the Cardigan Bay SAC Officer Annalisa
Bianchessi (Ph. 01545 572139, e-mail: annalisab@ceredigion.gov.uk)
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