25 Jan 2025

The government has ordered offshore energy firms to avoid “noisy” detonations when disposing of unexploded bombs on the seabed. Over 300,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance from the First and Second World Wars sit on the UK seabed and, if encountered, must be cleared during the construction of offshore wind projects. Marine minister Emma Hardy said […]

30 Jul 2024

A recently published study, commissioned by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) investigates the suitability of existing Cumulative Effects Assessment (CEA) methods relative to the requirement to adopt a standardised approach to CEA in support of marine plan development. The report concludes with a set of recommendations for carrying out CEAs at a marine plan-level […]

21 May 2024

A new report sheds light on the future impacts of climate change on marine species across the United Kingdom. Focussing on 21 marine species listed as ‘threatened’ or ‘declining’, ranging from sharks and rays to seahorses and oysters, predictive models were used to forecast the impacts of climate change on ‘habitat suitability’. Factors such as […]

21 Nov 2023

A new census covering over 10,000 sites reveals 11 of 25 seabird species that breed in Britain, Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Isles have declined over the past 20 years. Britain and Ireland hold most of the world’s nesting Manx shearwaters, northern gannets and great skuas. The islands are also a vital stronghold for other […]

04 Oct 2022

The following marine related JNCC and Partnership Reports have been published to the JNCC Resource Hub: JNCC Report No. 694: Natural England and JNCC guidance on key sensitivities of habitats and Marine Protected Areas in English waters to aggregate resource extraction JNCC Report No. 693: Technical assistance programme for effective coastal-marine management in the Turks and Caicos […]

26 Jul 2022

The first major update in over 15 years of the common language that describes life on the seafloor has been published. The Marine Habitat Classification for Britain and Ireland (MHCBI) is used for Protected Area designation, assessments of environmental status, marine spatial planning and casework throughout the UK. A report in JNCC’s latest newsletter says […]