The vast coastline and seas of the United Kingdom have a remarkable marine natural heritage and provide rich resources for both work and play. These are treasures that need to be safeguarded and the UK Marine SACs Project will play a major role in achieving this. This Project will show the way by trialling proposed approaches and developing expertise through various activities:

Working with relevant authorities to establish operational management schemes on 12 candidate marine SACs, around the United Kingdom.

Sharing best practice on developing management schemes.

Gathering existing knowledge and improving our understanding on:

• dynamics and sensitivity of marine features
• impact of human activities on marine features
• practical techniques for monitoring and assessing condition of features

Raising awareness in the UK and Europe of the value of marine SACs and the means by which they will be safeguarded. The Pembrokeshire Marine candidate SAC includes not only a substantial part of the Pembrokeshire coastline, but also the Milford Haven Waterway. It is not the islands themselves that are included within the site, but the surrounding shore, seabed and sea.

The landward boundary of the Pembrokeshire Marine candidate SAC is generally at the mean low water mark of ordinary tides. However, it is Government policy that this boundary extends up to the mean high water mark of ordinary tides on areas of shore that have been designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and that are included within the SAC.