A new Official Statistic in Development has been released by JNCC that will track the status of threatened and declining marine habitats and species within the UK. This new indicator provides, for the first time, a comprehensive overview of threatened and declining marine habitats and species in the UK.
The statistic has been specifically designed to support the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan as part of the Outcome Indicator Framework, which measures environmental changes linked to ten key goals. Results of this data will feed into the ‘Thriving Plants and Wildlife’ goal and will be included in the 2025/2026 reporting cycle for the C6 indicator “Diverse seas: status of threatened and declining features”.
The statistic takes into consideration vulnerable marine species, such as Harbour Porpoise and Basking Shark, and habitats, including seagrass beds and intertidal mudflats, flagged for protection. It uses published data from two main sources.
- The OSPAR List of Threatened and/or Declining Species and Habitats. OSPAR is the mechanism by which 15 governments and the EU cooperate to protect the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic.
- Habitats and species assessments reported through Article 17 of the Habitats Directive. The Article 17 reporting requirement has since been translated into the Habitats Regulations, which provide legal protection for habitats and species of European importance.
The results provide a high-level summary of the number of marine features in Good/Favourable or Poor/Unfavourable status. This statistic presents an up-to-date summary of marine features within the UK, and trends where available.
An Official Statistic is a numerical dataset produced by the government or an associated body, following strict professional standards to ensure quality and reliability. Statistics labelled as “in Development” show they are being refined and improved before potentially becoming fully accredited Official Statistics.
To find out more, take a look at the new Official Statistic in Development.