National Parks and Wildlife Service - Site Specific Conservation Objectives for EU Annex 11 Species - Point

Conservation objectives for Natura 2000 Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) have to be set for the habitats and species for which the sites are selected. These objectives are used when carrying out appropriate assessments for plans and projects that might impact on these sites. Site-specific conservation objectives outline attributes with targets, which define favourable condition for a habitat or species at a particular site. They are used for appropriate assessment of plans or projects. In addition, they can provide useful information for conservation management planning. The maintenance of habitats and species within Natura 2000 sites at favourable conservation condition will contribute to the overall maintenance of favourable conservation status of those habitats and species at a national level. This is a national dataset. Site-specific conservation objectives aim to define favourable conservation condition for Habitats Directive Annex I habitats and Annex II species at a site level. This project relates to the following Annex II species at specific sites:

• Grey Seal - Halichoerus grypus (1364),
• Petalwort - Petalophyllum ralfsii (1395),
• Common / Harbour Seal - Phoca vitulina (1365).

Favourable conservation condition of a species is achieved when: - population dynamics data on the species concerned indicate that it is maintaining itself on a long term basis as a viable component of its natural habitats, and - the natural range of the species is neither being reduced nor is likely to be reduced for the foreseeable future, and - there is, and will probably continue to be, a sufficiently large habitat to maintain its populations on a long-term basis

Mapping of species distribution and suitable habitat is used to help define distribution, population and range parameters for conservation objectives