Outer Firth of Forth and St. Andrews Bay Complex Special Protection Area: business and regulatory impact assessment

Summary and recommendation

Option 2: Classify site as a Special Protection Area – is the preferred option.

The extent and quality of habitat and available food around Scotland's coast supports huge numbers of different species of seabirds. Few countries can match this and we have an international responsibility to protect what we have around Scotland. Therefore the appropriate action is to protect and maintain Scotland's seabird and water bird populations and meet the requirements of the EU Wild Birds Directive.