New detailed assessments of marine protected areas (MPA) in Wales show which habitats and species are doing well in Welsh waters, but highlight the need for more action to improve habitat, biodiversity and water quality, according to Natural Resources Wales (NRW).
A total of 85 features designated across 17 marine special areas of conservation (SACs) and special protected areas (SPAs) have been assessed to determine if their conservation objectives are being met. More than half of feature level condition assessments were found to be in unfavourable condition, for both SACs and SPAs.
These features include a range of rare and protected species and habitats, such as grey seals, sea lamprey, otter, sandbanks, mudflats, reefs and saltmarsh.
Amongst the conservation objectives are targets for water quality, which show that nutrient pollution, in the form of dissolved inorganic nitrogen, is one of the main reasons that the features of some sites are in unfavourable condition.
Funded by the Welsh Government through the Nature Networks Fund, this is the first time evidence on this scale has been collected on the state of Wales’s protected marine environment and is one of the most extensive reports to date on the state of marine protected areas in Europe.
Cross border marine sites have not been included at this stage but will be assessed jointly with Natural England and the JNCC over the next few years.
Twelve new conservation advice packages have also been developed using information from the condition assessments and will support and improve sustainable management of sites by NRW and partner organisations.
Mary Lewis, Head of Natural Resource Management from NRW said: “As well as being home to some of Wales’s most unique and threatened habitats and species, our coastal areas are treasured by local communities and are an important contributor to the Welsh economy through tourism and recreation.
“A huge amount of knowledge and expertise has been drawn upon to produce such comprehensive evidence about the condition of our protected marine areas.
“This is an important first step towards prioritising the actions needed to improve the long-term health of our much-loved marine environment.”
Launching a manifesto of asks to politicians ahead of next year’s Senedd election, WWF Cymru said pollution fed in from rivers is damaging marine ecosystems and the ocean’s ability to store carbon, “making conditions for recovery or restoration of carbon-rich habitats, such as seagrass, challenging”.
Shea Buckland-Jones, head of policy and advocacy at WWF Cymru, said NRW’s assessments highlighted “the terrible state of our waterways and the urgent action needed from Welsh government”.
“Sadly, the public do not need to view a report to appreciate the dire state of our waterways as it is all too apparent.”, Buckland-Jones told the BBC.
A spokesman for NFU Cymru said the farming union recognised “the role that farmers have to play in maintaining and enhancing water quality in Wales”.
“Farmers take their environmental responsibilities seriously and NFU Cymru continues to work with partners to take action to reduce incidences of agricultural point source and diffuse pollution, where the evidence shows this is needed,” they said.
Welsh Water said it planned to invest £4bn – including £2.5bn on environmental projects – between now and 2030.
“During the next two years we will be building on NRW’s work and carrying out investigations to understand the different sources of nutrients found in sea water whether from runoff water from the land or wastewater,” the company said.
The summary of the assessment process and results can be found in the final report on the NRW website.