Common standards monitoring • Managed realignment

Common standards monitoring

One of the special functions of the three country agencies (Countryside Council for Wales, English Nature and Scottish Natural Heritage) is the establishment of common standards throughout Great Britain for monitoring nature conservation and, particularly, the ‘condition’ of designated sites. The standards have been developed by these agencies together with the Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland and have been agreed by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). The standards apply to statutory sites designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSIs). They also apply to areas designated as part of the Natura 2000 series (Special Protection Areas (SPAs) under the EC Birds Directive and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) under the EC Habitats Directive), together with Ramsar sites designated under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance.

The nature conservation component which is assessed under Common Standards Monitoring (CSM) is not the site itself, but the feature (e.g. specific species and/or habitat) for which the site was designated; and sites may have more than one interest feature. Under CSM, conservation objectives are set for each feature. Key Attributes of the feature (e.g. extent, quality, supporting processes) are identified and broad targets set for each. Monitoring is then carried out to assess the state of these attributes, and an assessment made on the condition of the feature as a whole.

The following discusses in more detail information required for Common Standards Monitoring.

• Attributes and targets
• Judging the condition of sites
• Methods of assessment