National Parks and Wildlife Service - Site Specific Conservation Objectives for EU Annex 1 Habitats - Polygons (WFD RBMP Cycle 2)

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This dataset represents a snapshot taken in September 2016 for the purpose of the WFD RBMP Cycle 2.

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 I habitat at specific sites: * Sandbanks which are slightly covered by sea water all the time (1110) * Estuaries (1130) * Mudflats and sandflats not covered by sea water at low tide (1140) * Coastal lagoons (1150) * Large shallow inlets and bays (1160) * Reefs (1170) * Turloughs (3180) * European dry heaths (4030) * Juniperus communis formations on heaths or calcareous grasslands (5130) * Salicornia and other annuals colonising mud and sand (1310) * Atlantic salt meadows (Glauco-Puccinellietalia maritimae) (1330) * Mediterranean salt meadows (Juncetalia maritimae) (1410) * Mediterranean and thermo-Atlantic halophilous scrubs (Sarcocornetea fruticosi) (1420) * Annual vegetation of drift lines (1210) * Perennial vegetation of stony banks (1220) * Embryonic shifting dunes (2110) * Shifting dunes along the shoreline with Ammophila arenaria ('white dunes') (2120) * Fixed coastal dunes with herbaceous vegetation ('grey dunes') (2130) * Decalcified fixed dunes with Empetrum nigrum (2140) * Atlantic decalcified fixed dunes (Calluno-Ulicetea) (2150) * Dunes with Salix repens ssp. argentea (Salicion arenariae) (2170) * Humid dune slacks (2190) * Machairs ( in Ireland) (21A0) * Old sessile oak woods with Ilex and Blechnum in the British Isles (91A0) * Bog woodland (91D0) * Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior (Alno-padion, Alnion incanae, Salicion albae) (91E0) * Taxus baccata woods of the British Isles (91J0) * Marine Community Types

Favourable conservation condition of a habitat is achieved when: * Its natural range, and area it covers within that range, is stable or increasing * The ecological factors that are necessary for its long-term maintenance exist and are likely to continue to exist for the foreseeable future * The conservation condition of its typical species is favourable

Habitat mapping is used to help define the area and range parameters for conservation objectives.

Data Resources (1)

WMS
available as WMS

Data Resource Preview - WMS GetMap

Theme Environment
Date released 2016-09-01
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 {https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/,license}
Update frequency Other
Language English
Landing page https://gis-stg.epa.ie/geoserver/wfd/wms?service=WMS&version=1.1.0&request=GetMap&layers=wfd:PROT_SAC_COHABITATSPY&styles=&bbox=15265.380900000222,18540.718800000846,339645.9963999996,469825.25&width=552&height=768&srs=EPSG:29902&format=image%2Fpng
Geographic coverage in GeoJSON format {"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[-12.7491, 50.76651],[-12.7491, 56.787020929041], [-5.58602, 56.787020929041], [-5.58602, 50.76651], [-12.7491, 50.76651]]]}
Spatial Reference Systems (SRS) TM65 / Irish Grid (EPSG:29902)
Vertical Extent {"verticalDomainName": "EPSG Projection 5731 - Malin Head height", "minVerticalExtent": "0", "maxVerticalExtent": "1014"}
Provenance information This dataset represents a snapshot taken in September 2016 for the purpose of the WFD RBMP Cycle 2. The data contained in this dataset is initially created at a site specific level and then incorporated into a national dataset for dissemination. The site specific level data is created by digitising the extent of sandbanks as present on the Admiralty Charts. A Clip operation using the relevant SAC boundary is performed. Additional appropriate attribution is given to the dataset. Expert opinion is used to resolve any issues which arise. Estuaries: The site specific level data is created by performing a Clip operation using the relevant SAC boundary on the Transitional Waters feature class of the EPA_WFD_v3 geodatabase. Additional appropriate attribution is given to the dataset. Expert judgement is used to resolve any issues which arise. The CO_Marine_Community_Types feature class contains information on the various community types at each site covered by the dataset. The marine community types which constitute the EU Annex 1 habitat 1140 Mudflats and sandflats not covered by sea water at low tide are extracted out of this dataset and used to populate the CO_1140_Tidal_Mudflats_And_Sandflats feature class. The upper extent of this dataset remains the OSi Discovery Series High Water Mark, with the lower extent becoming the low water mark. A Clip operation using the relevant SAC boundary is performed. Additional appropriate attribution is given to the dataset. Expert opinion is used to resolve any issues which arise. The site specific level data is created by performing a Clip operation using the relevant SAC boundary on the Inventory_of_Irish_Coastal_Lagoons_2011_polygons.shp dataset. Additional appropriate attribution is given to the dataset. Expert opinion is used to resolve any issues which arise. This dataset is derived from OSi Discovery Series (1:50,000) vector data. The Discovery series HWM polyline is converted into a polygon dataset. The landward extent of this dataset at a specific site can either be the OSi Discovery Series HWM or the SAC boundary. The seaward extent of this dataset at a specific site can either be the SAC boundary or a line drawn by expert judgement. A Clip operation using the relevant SAC boundary is performed. An Erase operation using the Transitional Waters features class of the Environmental Protection Agency's Water Framework Directives EPA_WFD_v3 Personal Geodatabase is performed. Additional appropriate attribution is given to the dataset. Expert opinion is used to resolve any issues which arise. The CO_Marine_Community_Types feature class contains various community types at each site covered by the dataset. The community types which constitute the EU Annex 1 habitat 1170 Reefs are extracted out of this dataset and used to populate the CO_1170_Reefs feature class. A Clip operation using the relevant SAC boundary is performed. Additional appropriate attribution is given to the dataset. Expert opinion is used to resolve any issues which arise. The CO_3180_Turloughs dataset was created by identifying the Turloughs recorded in the Turloughs Database 2013, which were located inside the SAC of this site. Expert opinion was used to resolve the issue of whether potential turloughs from the database should be included or not. The SAC boundaries from the CO_SAC_Version feature class, surrounding the identified turloughs, were used to create a new feature class. Additional appropriate attribution was given to the dataset. Expert opinion was used to resolve any other issue which arises. The site specific level data is produced by creating a polygon defined by locations identified by NPWS staff or from data contained in internal NPWS files, on the OSi 1:5,000 mapping. A Clip operation using the relevant SAC boundary is performed. Additional appropriate attribution is given to the dataset. Expert opinion is used to resolve any issues which arise. Juniper Formations: The site specific level data was produced from a GPS survey conducted by NPWS staff during a site visit in March 2013. The points recorded during the survey have been used to create a polygon spatial dataset. A Clip operation using the relevant SAC boundary was performed. Additional appropriate attribution was given to the dataset. Expert opinion was used to resolve any issues which arose. Saltmarsh Habitats: The site specific level data is created by performing a Clip operation using the relevant SAC boundary on the smp_national_sm_resource_revised_GIS_2011.shp dataset. From this clipped dataset the EU Annex 1 habitat(s) polygon(s) that constitute the Qualifying Interest(s) for the relevant SAC are extracted and given additional appropriate attribution. In the event that data from this conservation objective dataset overlaps with data from the Sand Dune Habitats conservation objectives dataset, expert judgement is used to determine, which data is to be removed. Expert opinion is also used to resolve any issues which arise. Sandune Habitats: The site specific level data is created by performing a Clip operation using the relevant SAC boundary on either the Coastal_Monitoring_Project_2004_2006.shp dataset or the SDMN11_Sand_Dunes_11_12.shp. This is decided upon on a site by site basis. From this clipped dataset the EU Annex 1 habitat(s) polygon(s) that constitute the Qualifying Interest(s) for the relevant SAC are extracted and given additional appropriate attribution. In the event that data from this conservation objective dataset overlaps with data from the Saltmarsh Habitats conservation objectives dataset expert judgement is used to determine which data is to be removed. Expert opinion is also used to resolve any issues which arise. It is possible to determine from the attribute table which of the two surveys each individual polygon has been sourced from. Woodland Habitats: The site specific level data is created by performing a Clip operation using the relevant SAC boundary on the NSNW_Woodland_Habitats_2010.shp dataset. From this clipped dataset the EU Annex 1 habitat(s) polygon(s) that constitute the Qualifying Interest(s) for the relevant SAC are extracted and given additional attribution. Additional expert knowledge is used to complement the data contained in the NSNW_Woodland_Habitats_2010 dataset. Expert opinion is used to resolve any issues which arise. Marine Community Types: The OSi Discovery Series vector high water mark (HWM) is extracted for a given site. The OSi Discovery Series vector low water mark (LWM) is also extracted. These two polyline datasets are combined into one polyline dataset. This combined polyline dataset is converted into a polygon dataset. This new polygon dataset now comprises polygons, which represent areas above HWM (islands) which are given an attribute of Terrestrial, areas between HWM and LWM, which are given an attribute of Intertidal and areas below LWM, which are given an attribute of Subtidal. Expert judgement may and has been used to alter the position of the higher and lower extent of this data if the OSi Discovery Series data is deemed to be an inaccurate representation of reality. This dataset forms the initial base mapping for the creation of the Marine Community Types of a given site. EU Annex 1 Saltmarsh data is deleted from the base mapping even if it is not a QI for the particular site in question. Similarly all EU Annex 1 Sand Dune data is deleted from the base mapping even if it is not a QI for the particular site. Initially only QI Saltmarsh or Sand Dune habitat data was deleted from the base mapping if present at a site. A subsequent revision of the rules led to any EU Annex 1 Saltmarsh or Sand Dune habitat data being deleted from the base mapping as long as there was at least one Saltmarsh or Sand Dune habitat QI at the site. Using MVA and a review of all relevant material a number of community types are identified at each site and mapped using expert judgement. A Clip operation using the relevant SAC boundary is performed. Additional appropriate attribution is given to the dataset. Expert opinion is used to resolve any issues which arise. This dataset has been created using ArcMap 10. The coordinate reference system of this dataset is Irish National Grid.
Period of time covered (begin) 2016-09-01
Period of time covered (end) 2016-09-01