Supplementary Guidance: Natural Environment

Annex 1

Local Nature Conservation Sites, Local Nature Reserves and un-notified Geological Conservation Review Sites

March 2017

Introduction
How to use this guidance
Special Habitats
Overview Maps
Site Statements and Maps

Introduction

This document provides further detailed information on Orkney’s Local Nature Conservation Sites (LNCS), set out in a suite of site statements. The locations of Local Nature Reserves and un-notified Geological Conservation Review sites are also mapped.

The Local Nature Conservation Sites (LNCS) have been identified on account of either their biological or geological/geomorphological features or, alternatively, a combination of these features. Sites designated for their biological interest support natural habitats and species that are recognised as priorities for conservation in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, the Scottish Biodiversity List and/or the Orkney Local Biodiversity Action Plan. The site statements contain a brief description of the area, along with information on the range of special habitats and wildlife found on-site. A phase 1 habitat survey map illustrates the location and extent of the habitats found within each site. Sites may also support additional species that have not yet been formally recorded.

Local Nature Reserves (LNR) are areas of locally important natural heritage, designated and managed by local authorities to give people better opportunities to learn about and enjoy nature.

Geological Conservation Review (GCR) sites represent the best geological and geomorphological features of Britain. Most of Orkney’s GCRs are designated as geological features within Sites of Special Scientific Interest, others are designated as LNCS and the remaining sites are described as un-notified GCRs.

How to use this guidance

Each LNCS can be identified either by site name on the Site List where they are set out in alphabetical order, or by locating the site on Maps 1-5. LNRs and un-notified GCRs may be identified from the legend on each map.

Applicants for planning permission are encouraged to refer to this guidance at the earliest opportunity, as it contains important details on natural heritage features which should be taken into account when planning a development. Where a development proposal is likely to affect a LNCS, LNR or GCR, this information should inform decisions relating to the design, scale and location of the proposal. Pre-application advice can be sought from the planning authority, to consider how development might be most effectively accommodated within a site. Advice can also be provided regarding the natural heritage information that would be required to support the submission of a planning application.

In addition to the information provided in the site statements, the Orkney Wildlife Information and Records Centre may hold further natural heritage information of relevance to LNCS:

Orkney Wildlife Information and Records Centre, Orkney Library and Archive, 44 Junction Road, Kirkwall, Orkney KW15 1AG.

Telephone: 01856 873026
Email: biodiversity@orkney.gov.uk

Special Habitats

Habitat	Habitat
Aeolianite.	Machair.
Basin bog.	Maritime cliff and slopes.
Blanket bog.	Maritime grassland.
Burns and canalised burns.	Maritime heath.
Coastal saltmarsh.	Mesotrophic lakes (lochs).
Coastal sand dunes.	Oligotrophic and dystrophic lakes (lochs).
Coastal strandline.	Ponds.
Coastal vegetated shingle.	Purple moorgrass and rush pastures.
Conifer plantation.	Reedbeds.
Empetrum heath.	Saline lagoons.
Eutrophic standing waters.	Species-rich heath.
Inland rock and scree outcrops.	Treeless woodland and dales.
Intertidal mud flats.	Upland birchwoods.
Lichen heath.	Upland calcareous grassland.
Links.	Upland flushes, fens and swamps.
Lowland calcareous grassland.	Upland heathland.
Lowland dry acid grassland.	Upland willow scrub.
Lowland fens.	Wet woodlands.
Lowland meadows.	N/A.

Bold = UK Biodiversity Action Plan and Scottish Biodiversity List priority habitat

Regular = Locally important habitat (Orkney LBAP)

IMAGE: A two-column table lists special habitats. Bold text identifies UK Biodiversity Action Plan and Scottish Biodiversity List priority habitats; regular text identifies locally important habitats under the Orkney LBAP.

Overview Maps

IMAGE: Overview map of Orkney showing numbered Local Nature Conservation Sites and the locations of other environmental designations. The legend identifies Local Nature Conservation Sites, Proposed Special Protection Areas, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, Marine Protection Areas, un-notified Geological Conservation Review Sites and Local Nature Reserves. The map includes Ordnance Survey copyright and licensing text dated 2017.

IMAGE: Overview map showing numbered Local Nature Conservation Sites across Orkney, with areas designated or proposed as Special Protection Areas, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Ramsar sites, Marine Protection Areas, un-notified Geological Conservation Review Sites and Local Nature Reserves. The same designations are identified in the map legend. Ordnance Survey copyright and licensing text is dated 2017.

IMAGE: Overview map showing numbered Local Nature Conservation Sites and environmental designations across Orkney. The legend identifies Local Nature Conservation Sites, Proposed Special Protection Areas, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, Marine Protection Areas, un-notified Geological Conservation Review Sites and Local Nature Reserves. Ordnance Survey copyright and licensing text is dated 2017.

IMAGE: Overview map showing numbered Local Nature Conservation Sites and environmental designations across Orkney, including extensive areas marked as Proposed Special Protection Areas. The legend identifies Local Nature Conservation Sites, Proposed Special Protection Areas, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, Marine Protection Areas, un-notified Geological Conservation Review Sites and Local Nature Reserves. Ordnance Survey copyright and licensing text is dated 2017.

IMAGE: Overview map showing numbered Local Nature Conservation Sites and environmental designations across Orkney, including areas marked as Proposed Special Protection Areas and Sites of Special Scientific Interest. The legend identifies Local Nature Conservation Sites, Proposed Special Protection Areas, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, Marine Protection Areas, un-notified Geological Conservation Review Sites and Local Nature Reserves. Ordnance Survey copyright and licensing text is dated 2017.

IMAGE: A two-column habitat classification key titled “Key to Local Nature Conservation Sites:”. It gives the codes and names of habitat types from A1.1.1 semi-natural broad-leaved woodland through J4 bare ground, including woodland, scrub, grassland, heath, bog, flushes, fens, swamp, standing and running water, intertidal habitats, saltmarsh, dunes, cliffs, quarries, arable land, ditches, buildings and bare ground. The complete text is transcribed in the list above.

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