Defra commissioned Natural England to undertake a strategic review of risks from all ongoing activities within European marine sites (EMS), in order to identify and prioritise action required to meet conservation objectives. Activities were classed as those which could pose a high, medium, low or no risk to EMS. The review indicated that overall the majority of sites were subject to medium and low risks, which shows activities either have management controls in place and/or they have less potential to pose harm to sites. However, a small number of activities were identified which could pose a high risk to site features. For these activities, Defra has worked with ourselves and relevant authorities to develop recommended actions for regulators to consider to reduce these risks. The recommendations are set out in plans which are available from the Defra website, by clicking here:
ww2.defra.gov.uk/environment/marine/protect/mpa/