Implementation
of the Water Framework Directive in the UK in 2003 will require
water bodies to be assigned to River Basin Districts. River
Basin Committees will be established to undertake management
within Water Basin Districts in line with the objectives of
the Directive.
At present the boundary of these districts remains uncertain.
However, it is considered likely that the implementation of
the Directive will be split into regions following the Environment
Agency’s current administrative boundaries. The regional
boundary between the Environment Agency’s Southern and
South West regions crosses the New Forest SAC.
Since River Basin Districts
are likely to be large-scale areas dealing with high level
strategic issues of River Basin Management, the complete hydrological
picture of the cSAC is unlikely to be considered in great
detail. Consequently, the issue of nature conservation, to
be considered as part of the Directive threatens to be split
between the wider prevailing issues of each region without
intervention.
The Habitats Directive requires
that the integrity of the designated site should be respected
and promoted through its management. The practical interelations
between the Habitats Directive and the Water Framework Directive
upon the New Forest will be discussed in the Water Basin Management
Forum.
At a local level of management
a lack of consensus between the various landowners and land
users has prevented a conscious effort to view the water basins
as a whole in the past. The various pressures on the New Forest
such as forestry, commoning and recreation, have resulted
in a fragmented land use pattern within the cSAC which is
a threat to the cSAC as a whole.
Since riverine woodland and
bog woodland and their associated species are fundamentally
dependent upon their supporting hydrological regime, a clear
strategy which agrees common goals and sets out the key areas
of work for both the duration of the project and the longer
term is required.
Tremendous progress was made
under the New Forest LIFE 2 Project in developing a SAC-wide
management plan. However, this must be built upon to focus
management efforts on the priority habitats, and a mechanism
to bridge the gap between the national and local level of
management developed.
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