Publication - Progress report

Marine Protected Area network: 2024 report to the Scottish Parliament

A report to the Scottish Parliament on progress being made in implementing Scotland's Marine Protected Area (MPA) network.

Annex 1: Scottish MPA network statistics

Area values are rounded to the nearest km2 and percentages are rounded to one decimal place.

Table 1.1 The Scottish MPA Network
Site type	Number
MPAs for nature conservation	233
MPAs for other purposes	9
Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures	1
All MPAs/measures	243

Table 1.2 Sites for nature conservation purposes
Site type	Number
Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas	36
Special Areas of Conservation	58
Special Protection Areas	58
Sites of Special Scientific Interest	65
Ramsar Sites	16
All nature conservation sites	233

Table 1.3 Sites for other purposes
Site type	Number
Demonstration and Research MPA	1
Historic MPAs	8

Table 1.4 Area coverage of nature conservation sites
Region	Region area (km2)	MPA area (km2)	% of region in MPAs
Inshore	90,406	37,885	41.9
Offshore	528,339	190,236	36.0
All Scottish waters	618,744	228,121	36.9

Table 1.5 Area coverage of spatial conservation measures
Region Type	Region	Region area (km2)	MPA area (km2)	% of region in MPAs
UKMS sub-regions^[12]	Celtic Seas	492,440	215,726	43.8
UKMS sub-regions^[12]	Greater North Sea	126,304	14,327	11.3^[13]
Scotland	All Scottish waters	618,744	230,053	37.2

Table 1.6 Contribution of nature conservation sites to the OSPARMPA network
OSPAR Region	Area ofregion in Scottishwaters (km2)	MPA area in Scottish waters (km2)	% MPAcoverage inScottishwaters	% MPAcoverage ofScottish MPAs in whole region
Region I – Arctic Waters	29,394	21,491	73.1	0.4
Region II – Greater North Sea	203,331	34,288	16.9	4.5
Region III – Celtic Seas	80,512	30,460	37.8	8.3
Region V – Wider Atlantic	305,507	141,882	46.4	2.2

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