Former Marine Nature Reserves (MNRs)
In 2015, the Marine Nature Reserve (MNR) designation was replaced by the Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) designation.
This spatial dataset contains the digital boundaries of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs), including the former Marine Nature Reserve boundary in Wales.
MNRs and MCZs are mechanisms for conserving marine habitats, wildlife, and other features of special importance along the coastline and seabed. Skomer, the first and only Marine Nature Reserve in Wales, was established in 1990 and is located around Skomer Island and the Marloes Peninsula in south-west Wales.
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 empowered NRW's predecessor organisations to apply to Welsh Ministers for the designation of Marine Nature Reserves. MNRs could be managed through byelaws developed in consultation with relevant stakeholders and approved by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG).
Marine Nature Reserves made an important contribution to the protection of Welsh seas by increasing awareness of the value and vulnerability of the marine natural environment.
In Wales, the former Marine Nature Reserve designation has been superseded by Marine Conservation Zones. The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 provides for the designation of MCZs.
Marine Conservation Zones protect nationally important marine wildlife, habitats, geological features, and geomorphological features, and may be designated in both Welsh and English territorial waters, as well as UK offshore waters.
- Identification
- Extent
- Distribution
- Quality
- Keywords
- Spatial Reference System
- Content
- Constraints
- Maintenance
- Metadata
Identification
- Identifier
- NRW_DS98750
- Alternative Title
-
- DataMapWales Name: Protected sites: Marine Nature Reserves
- Marine Nature Reserve.LYR
- Sites (MNR)
- Metadata Language
- English
- Lineage
-
The boundary was originally digitised from the designation map at a scale of 1:10,000. In 2010, it was re-digitised against Ordnance Survey MasterMap (CCW update 2008) using the boundary description contained within the Byelaws document.
As no digital dataset exists for Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT), which forms the landward boundary for much of the site, a 1.5 m buffer above Mean High Water Mark (MHWM) was adopted as a proxy.
Latitude and longitude coordinates were plotted using the WGS84 coordinate reference system and subsequently converted to the British National Grid.
Where the boundary description refers to Mean Low Water Ordinary Tides (MLWOT), the boundary has been digitised to Mean Low Water Mark (MLWM) as represented in Ordnance Survey MasterMap. Therefore, for the definitive boundary, reference should be made to the description contained within the Byelaws.
The digitisation and mobilisation of this information within Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has improved the protection of these sites and increased the efficiency of planning and decision-making processes within government organisations and the wider stakeholder community.
- Additional Information
-
Please refer to Countryside Acts 1981 for reasons for capture of original designation of the MNRs. In Wales, the MNRs that existed have been superseded by MCZs. Please refer to The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 which allows for the creation of MCZs.
- Dataset Reference Date (Publication)
- 2010-12-31
Temporal Extent
- Begin date
- 1995-01-01
- End date
- 2010-12-31
- Topic category
-
- Biota
- Environment
- Imagery base maps earth cover
- Oceans
Extent
Extent
- Geographic Extent
- SIR BENFRO - PEMBROKESHIRE
- Geographic Extent
- Wales (WLS)
))
Vertical Extent
- Medin Extent Keyword
-
water column boundary layer; benthic boundary layer; atmospheric boundary layer
Distribution
- Format Type and Description
-
-
Geographic Information System
(
)
- Specification
-
Digital data in ArcGIS format
-
Geographic Information System
(
)
Quality
Data quality
- Quality Scope
- Dataset
- Conformity
- Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services
- Explanation
-
This dataset has not been assessed for conformance to the referenced INSPIRE regulation.
- Degree
- false
- Lineage
-
The boundary was originally digitised from the designation map at a scale of 1:10,000. In 2010, it was re-digitised against Ordnance Survey MasterMap (CCW update 2008) using the boundary description contained within the Byelaws document.
As no digital dataset exists for Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT), which forms the landward boundary for much of the site, a 1.5 m buffer above Mean High Water Mark (MHWM) was adopted as a proxy.
Latitude and longitude coordinates were plotted using the WGS84 coordinate reference system and subsequently converted to the British National Grid.
Where the boundary description refers to Mean Low Water Ordinary Tides (MLWOT), the boundary has been digitised to Mean Low Water Mark (MLWM) as represented in Ordnance Survey MasterMap. Therefore, for the definitive boundary, reference should be made to the description contained within the Byelaws.
The digitisation and mobilisation of this information within Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has improved the protection of these sites and increased the efficiency of planning and decision-making processes within government organisations and the wider stakeholder community.
Keywords
Keywords
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Publication)
- 2008-06-01
Keywords
-
NRW Thesaurus
-
- geographical information systems (GIS)
- marine nature reserves
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Publication)
- 2026-08-27
Keywords
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Publication)
- 2024-06-19
Spatial Reference System
Content
Content Information
NRW Profile
Custom Elements
Constraints
Constraints
Limitations on Public Access and Use
- Restriction type
- Other restrictions
Access Constraints Directive
- Limitations
- no limitations
Access Constraints Text
- Other constraints
-
There are no access restrictions to this data. NRW may release, publish or disseminate it freely.
Use Constraints
- Use constraints type
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
-
© CNC/NRW 2010. All rights Reserved. Contains Ordnance Survey Data. Ordnance Survey Licence number AC0000849444. Crown Copyright and Database Right 2010. There are no use restrictions on this data. Recipients may re-use, reproduce, disseminate this data free of charge in any format or medium, provided they do so accurately, acknowledging both the source and copyright as specified, and do not use it in a misleading context. It is the recipient's responsibility to ensure the data is fit for the intended purpose, that dissemination or publishing does not result in duplication, and that it is fairly interpreted. Advice on interpretation should be sought where required. To avoid re-using old data, users should periodically obtain the latest version from the original source.
Metadata
Metadata
- File Identifier
- 4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-3938373530 XML
- Metadata Language
- English
- Resource type
- Dataset
- Metadata Date
- 2026-10-01T15:25:31.962Z
- Metadata Standard Name
- NRW
- Metadata Standard Version
-
1.0