South Rigg MCZ Monitoring report and feasibility study

2. Project Background The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) has statutory responsibilities for advising on, and supporting the monitoring of, seabed habitats and species within UK Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), particularly in offshore waters. To fulfil these responsibilities, JNCC coordinates and delivers offshore survey programmes to collect evidence on the condition of marine habitats and supporting processes. Evidence collected during these surveys is considered alongside other available information (for example, historical survey data, pressures assessments, and external datasets) to: • assess the condition of protected habitats and species within MPAs; • report on whether MPAs are meeting their Conservation Objectives; and • support the provision of advice on MPA management and the effectiveness of management measures. Monitoring reports play a critical role in this process. They provide a structured and transparent means of bringing together survey outputs, describing results in the context of site-specific monitoring and conservation objectives, and clearly setting out the evidence base used to inform assessment and advice. These reports also form an important audit record, demonstrating how evidence has been interpreted and how conclusions have been reached. This Annex A relates specifically to the preparation of a monitoring report based on data collected during an offshore survey undertaken to support monitoring of South Rigg MCZ and is intended to both deliver the required reporting output and inform JNCC's wider understanding of the suitability of this approach for future work. JNCC is trialling the commissioning of external contractors to support the drafting of monitoring reports, this scope reflects the trail process and asks the contractor to play an active role assessing its effectiveness. 2.1 Survey background The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), in collaboration with the Agri Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), undertook an