Site Specific Conservation Objectives

Site-specific conservation objectives aim to define favourable conservation condition for Habitats Directive Annex I habitats, Annex II species at a site level and the SPA special conservation interest "wetlands and waterbirds". This project relates to the following Annex I habitats and Annex II species at specific SAC sites and SPA special conservation interest "wetlands and waterbirds"at specific SPA sites:
- Sandbanks which are slightly covered by sea water all the time (1110)
- Estuaries (1130)
- Mudflats and sandflats not covered by sea water at low tide (1140)
- *Coastal lagoons (1150)
- Large shallow inlets and bays (1160)
- Reefs (1170)
- Annual vegetation of drift lines (1210)
- Perennial vegetation of stony banks (1220)
- Vegetated sea cliffs of the Atlantic and Baltic coasts (1230)
-  Salicornia and other annuals colonising mud and sand (1310)
-  Atlantic salt meadows (Glauco-Puccinellietalia maritimae) (1330)
-  Mediterranean salt meadows (Juncetalia maritimae) (1410)
-  Mediterranean and thermo-Atlantic halophilous scrubs (Sarcocornetea fruticosi) (1420)
-Embryonic shifting dunes (2110)
- Shifting dunes along the shoreline with Ammophila arenaria ('white dunes') (2120)
- *Fixed coastal dunes with herbaceous vegetation ('grey dunes') (2130)
- *Decalcified fixed dunes with Empetrum nigrum (2140)
- *Atlantic decalcified fixed dunes (Calluno-Ulicetea) (2150)
- Dunes with Salix repens ssp. argentea (Salicion arenariae) (2170)
- Humid dune slacks (2190)
- Machairs (* in Ireland) (21A0)
- *Turloughs (3180)
- Watercourses of plain to montane levels with the Ranunculion fluitantis and Callitricho-Batrachion vegetation (3260)
- European dry heaths (4030)
- Juniperus communis formations on heaths or calcareous grasslands (5130)
- Calaminarian grasslands of the Violetalia calaminariae (6130)
- *Petrifying springs with tufa formation (Cratoneurion) (7220)
- *Active raised bogs (7110)
-  *Limestone Pavements (8240)
- Submerged or partially submerged sea caves (8330)
- Old sessile oak woods with Ilex and Blechnum in the British Isles (91A0)
- *Bog woodland (91D0)
- *Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior (Alno-padion, Alnion incanae, Salicion albae) (91E0)
- *Taxus baccata woods of the British Isles (91J0)
- Marine Community Types
- Geyer's Whorl Snail - Vertigo geyeri (1013)
- Narrow-Mouthed Whorl Snail - Vertigo angustior (1014)
- Desmoulins Whorl Snail - Vertigo moulinsiana (1016)
- Freshwater Pearl Mussel - Margaritifera margaritifera (1029)
- White Clawed Crayfish - Austropotamobius pallipes (1092)
- Sea Lamprey - Petromyzon marinus (1095)
- Brook Lamprey - Lampetra planeri (1096)
- River Lamprey -  Lampetra fluviatilis (1099)
- Lesser Horseshoe Bat - Rhinolophus hipposideros (1303)
- Bottlenose Dolphin - Tursiops truncatus (1349)
- Harbour Porpoise - Phocoena phocoena (1351)
- Otter - Lutra lutra (1355)
- Grey Seal - Halichoerus grypus (1364)
- Common / Harbour Seal - Phoca vitulina (1365)
- Petalwort - Petalophyllum ralfsii (1395)
- Killarney Fern - Trichomanes speciosum (1421)
- Slender Naiad - Najas flexilis (1833)
- Nore Freshwater Pearl Mussel - Margaritifera durrovensis (1990)

Favourable conservation condition of a habitat is achieved when:
- its natural range, and area it covers within that range, is stable or increasing, and
- the ecological factors that are necessary for its long-term maintenance exist and are likely to continue to exist for the
  foreseeable future, and
- the conservation condition of its typical species is favourable

Habitat mapping is used to help define the area and range parameters for conservation objectives
Favourable conservation condition of a species is achieved when:
- population dynamics data on the species concerned indicate that it is maintaining itself on a long term basis as a viable component of its natural habitats, and
- the natural range of the species is neither being reduced nor is likely to be reduced for the foreseeable future, and
- there is, and will probably continue to be, a sufficiently large habitat to maintain its populations on a long-term basis

Mapping of species distribution and suitable habitat is used to help define distribution, population and range parameters for conservation objectives.

This is a national dataset that consists of several resources: 
- Shapefiles with spatial SSCO data
- GeoPackage file with spatial SSCO data
- CSV, Excel, JSON and SQLite files with tabular SSCO data

Tags: animal species, biodiversity, biota, ecological, ecology, environment, habitat, habitat protection, habitats, heritage, ireland, national biodiversity plan, national parks and wildlife, npws, protected sites, protection, protection of animals, protection of birds, protection of species, sac, spa, special area of conservation, special protection area, species, terrestrial ecosystem, wildlife protection
Organization: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage