"Marine Natural Heritage Importance" is a descriptive phrase that identifies that it is the importance of natural features (whether landscape, geology or wildlife) being considered (rather than importance for fisheries, energy generation, recreation etc.). "Importance" is for the maintenance of biodiversity. The phrase was initiated by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee in the 1990's when new approaches to assessing 'importance' for marine natural heritage were being developed.
The Review of Marine Nature Conservation (see: http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/ewd/rmnc) has further developed many of the approaches piloted by JNCC as a part of a 'Marine Natural Heritage Assessment Protocol' and now refer to "Nationally Important Marine Features".
A particular marine species, biotope or landscape is considered of natural heritage importance/national importance according to:
- its global or regional importance assessed by the proportion of the marine landscape, habitat (biotope) or population of a species within the UK;
- if it is rare or scare in the UK;
- if it is in decline, or
- if there is a threat of significant decline.
For further definitions see National importance. |
