Special Area of Conservation

A special area of conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora. They are to protect the 220 habitats and approximately 1,000 species listed in annex I and II of the directive which are considered to be of European interest following criteria given in the directive. They must be chosen from the sites of Community importance by the member states and designated SAC by an act assuring the conservation measures of the natural habitat.[1]

SACs complement special protection areas and together form a network of protected sites across the European Union called Natura 2000. This, in turn, is part of the Emerald network of Areas of Special Conservation Interest (ASCIs) under the Berne Convention.

Assessment methodology in the United Kingdom

Prior to being designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), sites have been assessed under a two-stage process set out by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. The value of the proposed site is considered in relation to the whole national resource of each habitat type and of each species.

Stage one

Firstly, assessment of the relative importance of sites containing examples of the individual habitat types. Four criteria are used:

the degree of representativity;
the area;
the degree of conservation of habitat structure and functions;
restoration possibilities and a global assessment of conservation value (i.e. an overall assessment).

Secondly, species assessment evaluates population size and density, the degree of conservation of the features of the habitat that are important for the species and restoration possibilities, the degree of isolation of the population in relation to the species' natural range and a global assessment of conservation value.[2]

Stage two

This stage is often informally referred to as 'moderation'. The criteria used in Stage 2 are intended to be used to assess the sites at the level of the nine biogeographical regions and the EU as a whole. The Stage 2 criteria may be summarised as:

relative value of the site at national level;
relationship of the site to migration routes or its role as part of an ecosystem on both sides of one or more Community frontiers;
total area of the site;
number of habitat types and species present;
global ecological value of the site at the level of the biogeographical region and/or EU as a whole.

References

"SAC definition in the Directive". Archived from the original on 2006-07-18.
Cors Caron - Special Area of Conservation - JNCC SAC - Habitats Directive

External links

List of UK SACs – Joint Nature Conservation Committee
MAGIC maps – Natural England – shows SACs and other designations in Britain

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "SAC definition in the Directive". Archived from the original on 2006-07-18.

[SAC-2] Cors Caron - Special Area of Conservation - JNCC SAC - Habitats Directive

Conservation of species
Index of conservation articles
Conservation biology	Biodiversity Captive breeding Compassionate conservation Conservation behavior Conservation-dependent species Conservation genetics Conservation status Endemism Ex-situ conservation Extinction threshold In-situ conservation Latent extinction risk Marine conservation Nature conservation Conservation biology of parasites Species translocation Conservation welfare Threatened species
Approaches	Conservation agriculture Conservation development Conservation finance Conservation grazing Conservation management system Conservation movement Conservation photography Conservation psychology Conspicuous conservation Community-based conservation Ecoregion conservation status Environmental protection Forest management Forest protection Tropical rainforest conservation Other effective area-based conservation measures Riparian buffer Roadless area conservation Roadside conservation Site-based conservation
Protected areas	Conservation designation Conservation district Conservation easement Gap analysis Habitat conservation High conservation value area Landscape-scale conservation Marine protected area Marxan Open space reserve Wildlife corridor 30 by 30 target
Key issues	Conservation refugee Fortress conservation Human–wildlife conflict
Restoration	Assisted natural regeneration Ecosystem restoration Island restoration Reforestation afforestation Rewilding marine Species reintroduction
By taxon	Arthropods Insect hotel Birds raptors Fungi Land mammals American bison Arabian oryx bears elephants slow lorises tigers wolves Marine Gray nurse shark manatees salmon sea otters Painted turtles Plants seed bank cryopreservation
By country	Angola Australia Belize Brazil Canada Central African Republic Costa Rica Hong Kong Iceland India Bhopal Indonesia Ireland Italy Malaysia Namibia New Zealand Pakistan Papua New Guinea South Sudan Sweden Uganda United Kingdom (Scotland) United States forests National conservation area
Related	Conservation officer De-extinction Myth of superabundance Planetary boundaries IUCN Red List NatureServe conservation status Special Area of Conservation Soil conservation
List of conservation issues List of organisations List of people Category