Jncc coastal Directories Project Region 11 The Western Approaches

The Coastal Heritage Network (CoastNET)
The Coastal Heritage Network (CoastNET) (formerly the
Heritage Coast Forum) is funded by the Countryside
Commission, English Nature and Scottish Natural Heritage
and provides contact between those individuals and groups
concerned with the management of coasts in England (the
Arfordir Group fulfills a similar role in Wales); proposals
have been put forward to broaden this forum to the whole
of the UK.  
10.2.3  Countryside Council for Wales
The Countryside Council for Wales’s marine and coastal
zone policy was launched at the Prince of Wales Lecture in
December 1995 (CCW 1995).  It commits the Council to
striving for the integrated, holistic management of the
marine and coastal environment, and includes specific
policies to achieve this.  A review of coastal management of
three test areas in Wales (Swansea Bay, part of which falls
within this region, Ceredigion coast and the Menai Strait)
has been carried out by the University of Wales Department
of Maritime Studies.  CCW has issued a document: Seas,
shores and coastal areas (CCW 1996), which aims to guide
coastal policy.
10.2.4  English Nature
English Nature organises or participates in a number of
national coastal zone management initiatives, as detailed
below (see also 
section 10.2.9
).
Estuaries Initiative
The Estuaries Initiative for achieving the sustainable
management of estuaries is described in Caring for England’s
estuaries: an agenda for action (English Nature 1992); estuary
projects are listed in Grabrovaz (1995).  Out of a total of
35 projects underway or proposed in England, four areas
within the region have been targeted under this initiative:
Falmouth Bay and Estuaries, the Camel Estuary, the Taw-
Torridge Estuary and the Severn Estuary.  English Nature’s
involvement in these projects may vary from full
participation in the management committee through
membership of a Topic Group to responding to consultation
drafts.
Sensitive Marine Areas
English Nature’s Sensitive Marine Areas (SMA) initiative is
set out in Managing England’s marine wildlife (English Nature
1994) (see also 
section 7.4.4
).  Under the initiative, which is
modelled on the Estuaries Initiative, English Nature and the
managers and users of the marine environment are, with
joint funding, developing ways of managing areas of marine
wildlife importance, based on voluntary measures used in
conjunction with existing regulatory controls.  SMAs within
the region are Dodman Point to the Lizard, the Isles of Scilly,
St. Ives Bay, North Cornwall coast, Lundy, North Devon
coast and the Severn Estuary.
Maritime Natural Areas
English Nature has, through consultation, identified
23 proposed Maritime Natural Areas around the coast of
England (described in Conserving England’s maritime heritage
- a strategy (EN 1993)).  These non-statutory areas represent
coherent maritime wildlife systems based on major sediment
cells and other coastal features.  The seaward boundary of
each is the 12 mile limit, and the landward boundary the
limit of coastal habitats.  The Natural Areas approach is
being tried out at one Maritime Natural Area (Lyme Bay, in
Regions 9 and 10).  The trial includes a review of the
coastline, adjacent areas, the mechanisms by which the area
is regulated and how these may be applied in future, and
development of a framework to decide what the
management objectives for the area are and how they may
be achieved.  A strategy will be derived from this review,
including the management objectives for the Maritime
Natural Area and an action plan for their implementation.
Future projects should extend this approach to the five main
Maritime Natural Areas within Region 11: Porthallow to
Trevose Head, Isles of Scilly, Trevose Head to Morte Point,
Morte Point to Brean Down, and the Severn Estuary.  A sixth
area (Start Point to Porthallow) lies mainly within Region 10. 
10.2.5  Arfordir Group
The Arfordir group is the local authority coastal officers’
forum in Wales.  It aims to promote integrated coastal
management and best management practice for the whole of
the Welsh coast, and to achieve Wales-wide representation
after local government re-organisation.  Membership is open
to all maritime local authorities.
10.2.6  Royal Society for the Protection of
Birds
In 1990, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
launched a national campaign to promote the importance of
estuaries in the UK and the need for coordinated
management (Rothwell & Housden 1990).  The campaign
ran for three years.  The RSPB Estuaries Inventory project
compiled mapped and numerical information on land use
and selected human activities for 57 major UK estuaries,
including in this region the Fal, Camel, Taw-Torridge and
Severn Estuaries.  In 1994, the RSPB launched its ‘Marine
Life’ campaign, which aims to increase awareness of the
problems facing the marine environment and its wildlife,
including pollution, fisheries and shipping safety.  It has
recently published a Review of coastal zone management powers
(RSPB 1995).
10.2.7  Shoreline management plans
Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) set out a strategy for
coastal defence for a specified length of coast, taking
account of natural processes and human and other
environmental influences and needs (MAFF et al. 1994).
10.2  National coastal initiatives with regional elements
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