Possible Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas (pMPA) within the 12 Nautical Mile Territorial Sea limit around Scotland.

Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are designated by Scottish Ministers under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. These possible MPAs have been approved by Scottish Ministers for public consultation. As such, the locations are afforded policy protection as if they were designated.
The boundaries of the possible MPAs presented in this dataset represent those being consulted upon within the 12 nautical mile Territorial Sea limit (on the basis of advice provided by Scottish Natural Heritage - the Scottish Government's adviser on all aspects of nature and landscape across Scotland). The following URLs provide links to the consultation process websites: www.snh.gov.uk/mpa-consultation and www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/marine-consultation
Possible MPAs in offshore waters adjacent to Scotland (beyond the 12 nautical mile Territorial Sea limit) are also included in the consultation exercise. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee is the statutory adviser to the Scottish Government for offshore waters. The following URLs provide links to the relevant consultation process websites: www.jncc.defra.gov.uk/scottish-mpa-consultation and www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/marine-consultation

苏格兰政府依据《2010年海洋（苏格兰）法案》指定了海洋自然保护区（MPA）。这些潜在的MPA已由苏格兰政府批准，并公开征求公众意见。因此，这些区域在政策上受到保护，如同已被正式指定。本数据集中展示的潜在MPA边界代表了在12海里领海限制范围内（基于苏格兰自然遗产（苏格兰政府的自然和景观各方面顾问）提供的建议）正在进行咨询的内容。以下网址提供了咨询流程网站链接：www.snh.gov.uk/mpa-consultation 和 www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/marine-consultation。苏格兰近海（超出12海里领海限制）的潜在MPA也包含在咨询活动中。联合自然保护委员会是苏格兰政府关于近海法定顾问。以下网址提供了相关咨询流程网站链接：www.jncc.defra.gov.uk/scottish-mpa-consultation 和 www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/marine-consultation。