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Northern Ireland Marine Conservation Zones

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Published by: Marine Institute
Category: Environment
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The designation of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) safeguards vulnerable or unique marine species and habitats of national importance in the Northern Ireland inshore region based on an ecosystem approach. These MCZs fulfill the obligations on The Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013 (the "Act") to contribute to an ecologically coherent UK network of MPAs as well as wider biodiversity commitments at European and global level. MCZ is a new type of Marine Protected Area (MPA), designated in the Northern Ireland Inshore Region to protect nationally important habitats, species and geological/geomorphological features, while fully taking into account any economic, cultural or social consequences of doing so. The Act also allows the Department to make byelaws to protect MCZs from damage caused by unregulated activities such as anchoring, kite surfing, jet skiing etc. It is an offence to intentionally or recklessly destroy or damage a protected feature of an MCZ or to contravene a byelaw. For detailed information see - https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/articles/marine-conservation-zones

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Theme Environment
Date released 2013-01-01
Date updated 2023-08-21
Dataset conforms to these standards The INSPIRE Directive or INSPIRE lays down a general framework for a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) for the purposes of European Community environmental policies and policies or activities which may have an impact on the environment.
Rights notes {"Data is for public use under Creative Commons CC-By 4.0",https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/,license}
Update frequency Other
Language English
Geographic coverage in GeoJSON format {"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[-10.47472, 51.44555],[-10.47472, 55.37999], [-6.01306, 55.37999], [-6.01306, 51.44555], [-10.47472, 51.44555]]]}
Spatial Reference Systems (SRS) TM65 / Irish Grid (EPSG:29902)
Vertical Extent {"verticalDomainName": "EPSG Projection 5731 - Malin Head height", "minVerticalExtent": "0", "maxVerticalExtent": "1014"}
Provenance information The polygon that represents the boundary of Strangford Lough MCZ was originally the Marine Nature Reserve (MNR) boundary designated on 4th July 1995. However with the enactment of the Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013 all existing MRNs, designated under Article 20 of the Nature Conservation and Amenities Lands (Northern Ireland) Order, 1985, were to be treated as if it were a Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) designated under Section 13. This means that on the 18th September 2013,Strangford Lough MNR was re-designated as an MCZ. The boundaries are identical. PPRathlin, Waterfoot, Outer Belfast Lough and Carlingford Lough MCZs were designated on the 12th December 2016. The boundaries are subject to change if new verified evidence comes to light regarding the location or extent of the MCZ features which can include including habitats, species and geological/geomorphological features. For detailed lineage see the following - https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/articles/marine-conservation-zones
Period of time covered (begin) 1980-01-01
Period of time covered (end) 2014-01-24