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Winter 1996 The Sefton Coast - very much a European Coast Article by John Houston and Paul Rooney, Sefton Coast Life Project The Sefton Coast is very much a European coast both from its ties to European Community environmental law and also from the European outlook of many of its managing agencies. The organisations working on the Sefton Coast encourage networking and the sharing of experience with similar organisations in Europe. European legislation for nature comes from two principal sources; the 'Birds Directive' and the 'Habitats Directive'. Together they establish a legal framework for protecting and covering Europe's wildlife and habitats. At the centre of this policy is the creation of a network of protected areas across Europe to be known as Natura 2000 What are Natura 2000 sites? These are made up of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) designed to protect rare birds and migrating birds and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) to conserve habitats and species of European importance. The process of establishing the Natura 2000 network is complicated (see box) but will be complete by the year 2004. On the Sefton Coast the Ribble to Alt foreshores were designated as a Special Protection Area in 1995 and in 1996 the sand dunes and foreshore from Southport to Crosby were selected as a candidate Special Area of Conservation. These designations highlight the nature conservation importance of the Sefton Coast and Ribble Estuary and bring with them an opportunity and an incentive to better protect the habitats and species of the Sefton Coast. They have, for example, led to direct funding by the European Commission through the Life programme. The designations also bring obligations to national government, its agencies, local authorities and landowners. In the UK the Habitats Directive has been translated into Regulations so that the Directive can be implemented. The UK Habitat Regulations are used to assess planning applications which may affect the European sites. The European connection is not one way. Elements of coastal management in the UK are recognised as best-practice in Europe. The National Trust's Enterprise Neptune campaign, for example, was used as a basis for the French Government's approach to coastal management, where land purchase was given priority. Similarly the UK Heritage Coast experience, including the Sefton Coast Management Scheme, has been widely promoted in Europe. These skills have been offered to our Polish partner city, Gdansk, through the UK Know-How fund. Natura 2000 Network There are three stages leading up to the establishment of the Natura 2000 Network from the Habitats Directive angle. 1. Preparation of National lists Each EC Country has submitted a national list of candidate SACs to thee European Commission. The UK list includes over 200 sites. The list is based on standard selection criteria specified in the Habitats Directive. 2. Sites of Community Importance The European Community covers six distinct biogeographical zones. Sefton falls within the Atlantic biogeographical region. These regions will be used to identify sites of community importance (SCIs) which will make up the Natura 2000 network. This process must be completed in 1998. Sites containing priority habitats or species, which includes the Sefton Coast, will automatically be selected as a Site of Community Importance. 3. Special Areas of Conservation As soon as a site has been adopted as a SCI, Member States are required to designate it as a Special Area of Conservation within six years, by 2004 at the latest. The six year period will be used by Member States to prepare management or restoration plans for the area to ensure their favourable conservation status. Most of the sites making up the Natura 2000 network should be protected by 2004. However the process will be maintained and it is highly likely that sites will be added to the network if a species or habitat continues to decline. Sharing Experience In any profession or interest wider links are important as well as being stimulating. It can work both ways and often we find that something that greatly concerns us isn't so important at a larger scale. Similarly, we can find that issues that we have overlooked are really very important. When something is locally rare it attracts greater interest so we find that expertise differs from country to country. The need to share experience and learn from each other is nothing new - it's as old as mankind itself. The 19th century landowners at Formby took an interest in tree planting experiments at Les Landes on the Atlantic coast of France. Similar experiments were taking place in Denmark and Ireland and it is very probable that techniques were shared so in time the work became more successful. Dune stabilisation techniques are very similar throughout north west Europe; using cut scrub or heather as a thatch, marram planting and tree planting. The subtle differences though are of real interest to practitioners - perhaps a different design of spade or different depths or spacing of plants. Widespread techniques often have local distinctiveness. The Sefton dune area has similarities to dune areas in Denmark, Holland, north France, Ireland and the rest of the UK and within this geographical area is a close network of specialists sharing information through the European Union for Coastal Conservation. The EUCC networks to 40 countries in Europe. The Sefton Coast Management Scheme is also a member of Eurosite, an organisation which encourages best-practice, the exchange of information and technical twinning projects. Sefton Coast partners were awarded a Eurosite Quality Label in 1993 in recognition of their habitat management work. Home Page - Top www.seftoncoast.org.uk

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