Annual Monitoring Survey Glossary
The following terms are used in the SEMS Annual Monitoring Survey. Please ensure that you are familiar with them before completing the survey.
A glossary of terms for Marine Protected Areas and their management can also downloaded from Natural England's Designated Sites System.
Activities
Activities are those actions that are not plans or projects. They may be controlled or managed by competent or relevant authorities on a continuing basis or may fall outside of any jurisdiction. Many ‘recreational pursuits’ are considered as ‘activities’ as no permissions are required to carry them out.
Advice on Operations
This advice identifies pressures associated with the most commonly occurring marine activities, and provides a detailed assessment of the feature/subfeature or supporting habitat sensitivity to these pressures.
Anecdotal
Evidence based on personal accounts rather than facts or research.
Conservation Objective
A conservation objective is a statement describing the desired ecological/geological state (the quality) of a feature for which a Marine Protected Area (MPA) is designated. A 'feature' is one of the habitats, species or geodiversity interests that MPAs are intended to conserve. Favourable condition is when a site meets all the specific requirements of the conservation objectives.
Management Measures
How a site could be managed (also sometimes called the management 'instrument'. Essentially any action (voluntary or regulatory) taken to achieve the conservation objectives of a site is a management measure. Management measures may be restrictive (e.g. a requirement to use a certain type of fishing gear in sensitive areas), or be mitigative. Specific measures could include physical modifications to practices (e.g. adaption of fishing gear type, introduction of mooring buoys), education, practical and planning measures such as voluntary agreements, administrative (e.g. permits and seasonal restrictions), financial (e.g. mooring fees or car park charges) and legislative measures such as byelaws. See an example for the Solent Maritime SAC management measures.
Management Scheme
A plan, prepared by the relevant authorities, that sets the framework within which activities will be managed to achieve the conservation objectives of a European marine site (Defra, 2007).
Perceived
A general awareness of a change or impact taking place.
Plans and Projects
Any proposed development that is within a relevant authority’s function to control, or over which a competent authority has a statutory function to decide on application for consents, authorisation, licences or permissions.
Relevant Authority
A body that has functions in relation to land or waters within or adjacent to a marine area or European marine site (Defra, 2007).
Residual Impact
Those impacts that remain following the implementation of management measures.
Solent Marine Sites
The Solent has a maritime Special Area of Conservation (SAC); four Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and three Ramsar sites. The areas within these designations that lie below Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT) have become known collectively as the Solent Marine Sites (SEMS).
