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Consultation starts on Inverasdale Peatlands
29/01/1999
Inverasdale Peatlands in Wester Ross are being proposed as a possible Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the EC Habitats Directive. The site is an active blanket bog, a priority habitat under the directive.
Consultation on the proposal begins today and ends on 23 April. The site has already been confirmed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in November 1997.
The Government is committed to meeting its obligations under the EC Habitats Directive. It is also aware of the economic importance of the site to the rural community and the conflicting pressures that may result.
BACKGROUND
1. The Council Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and Wild Fauna and Flora (92/432/EEC) requires Member States to designate certain sites as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). From these national lists, the Member States and the Commission will agree the sites that will become designated SACs. The Habitats Directive was transposed into GB law by the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c) Regulations 1994.
2. The habitat types and species which require site designation are listed in Annexes I and II of the Directive. Annex III gives criteria for the selection of sites. Some 75 habitat types and 47 species are proposed for site designation in the UK.
3. A consultation exercise on the first list of possible SACs began in March 1995. This was followed by further consultations in October 1997, March 1998, two in June 1998 and December 1998.
4. From the list of sites consulted on in the various exercises ten tranches of candidate SACs comprising 332 sites in the UK (126 in Scotland) have already been forwarded to the European Commission.
5. Explanatory notes, which set out in detail the rationale for the selection of possible UK SACs, were published in JNCC Report No 270 in 1997.
News Release: 0172/99
29 January 1999