Policy paper

Principles for identifying and selecting compensatory marine protected areas (MPAs)

Published 24 July 2025

Applies to England

Background 

The UK government has published its ‘Clean Power 2030 Action Plan: A new era of clean electricity’, which sets out the scale of the challenge to deliver secure, domestically generated electricity and make Britain a clean energy superpower; offshore wind will play a pivotal role and the Plan sets a capacity range for between 43 to 50GW by 2030. 

Defra’s Offshore Wind Environmental Improvement Package (OWEIP) is designed to shorten offshore wind farm consent timelines, increase offshore wind capacity and protect the marine environment. As well as being crucial for the Clean Power Action Plan, the OWEIP will contribute to the government’s growth mission as this will create skilled green jobs, boost the UK economy through increased investment and create local economic benefits through a healthier marine environment.  

One element of the OWEIP is the flexibility for developers to collaborate to compensate for unavoidable damage to marine protected areas (MPAs) at a strategic rather than project level.  

This will allow for greater ecological benefits from compensation through strategic delivery of measures that cannot be implemented individually. 

The Collaboration on Offshore Wind Strategic Compensation (COWSC) is responsible for identifying strategic measures and has identified MPA designation and management as suitable strategic compensation for seabed (benthic) habitat. To date, this is the only ecologically effective form of strategic compensation for benthic habitat loss or damage caused by offshore wind development.  

This work is taking place at a time of increasing demands on the marine environment and the government needs to assess how to best deliver future targets and ambitions that require space in the marine environment, including Net Zero, shipping, energy security, fisheries and nature. These principles have therefore been drafted to provide ecologically robust compensatory MPA options to which Defra can apply social and economic factors (where appropriate) so that we can seek to limit the impacts of any new designations on marine users.  

Defra’s intention is to undertake only one exercise to designate MPAs as strategic compensation for seabed habitats. With advice from statutory nature conservation bodies (SNCBs), the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), Cefas, the Association of IFCAs (AIFCA) and others, and by engaging openly with stakeholders including the fishing industry and other marine industries, Defra will develop and recommend options to compensate for effects resulting from: 

• projects that received a seabed lease from The Crown Estate under Leasing Round 3, Round 4 or the 2017 Extensions Round 
• projects in the current Leasing Round 5 in the Celtic Sea 
• associated transmission infrastructure projects (for example, those forming part of the Holistic Network Design) - we will work with devolved governments on how this relates to projects in their waters where cabling will come through English waters 
• projects that have already been granted consent but cannot discharge their consent conditions or where adaptive management may now be required as the agreed compensation measures have not had the impact expected when consent was granted 
• operational offshore wind projects might sometimes be required to compensate for essential maintenance activities or for unforeseen effects. For this reason, we will aim to deliver additional environmental compensation so that projects eligible to request MPA designation to support project consent (those listed above) as well as operational projects delivered in Leasing Round 2, can access this measure if available and deemed suitable

Strategic compensation measures can only be used after ways of avoiding, reducing and then mitigating against seabed habitat loss or damage have been exhausted. Compensation related to mobile species will be covered by other strategic compensation measures.   

The compensatory MPAs will be subject to the same management framework and success metrics as existing MPAs. All compensatory MPAs will have a site-specific assessment for management purposes depending on which features are being protected and what activities are taking place.  

Additional information on management measures, including adaptive management and evaluation of management measures, will be set out in a forthcoming implementation and monitoring plan.

Purpose of these principles  

These principles will be applied using any of the following MPA designation options, which are not mutually exclusive:

• extending boundaries of existing MPAs  
• designating new features within boundaries of existing MPAs  
• overlapping an additional designation type on top of existing MPAs  
• designating new MPAs

Recognising spatial squeeze, our preference would be to extend or add features to existing MPAs.  

Working closely with our statutory nature conservation bodies, potential areas will be identified based on the ecological principles. Defra will then apply the policy, social and economic principles to facilitate a transparent, participatory and evidence-led approach throughout the site identification and selection process. 

These principles have been reviewed by environmental non-government organisations, the Seabed User and Developer Group, peer reviewers and the National Federation of Fishing Organisations.  

For enquiries on the MPA designations project, email mrf@defra.gov.uk.

Main stages of the MPA designations process  

There are comprehensive legislative processes required to designate MPAs that are broadly set out in the following 6 stages.  

Table 1: the stages of the MPA designations process for compensatory MPA options

Project stage	Description
Stage 1 - Data collation and identifying potential options	Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and Defra collate information on habitats that require benthic compensation, including gathering data through a call to industry which will help in inform the compensation need. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and Natural England will apply the ecological principles, to identify potential compensatory MPAs.
Stage 2 - Options development	JNCC and Natural England identify potential compensatory MPAs. Engagement with stakeholders (including the fishing industry) and eNGOs. Defra to consider, where appropriate, social and economic effects of potential designations and extensions.
Stage 3 - Advice drafting	JNCC and Natural England draft ecological advice potential compensatory MPAs and submit this to Defra. Continued engagement with stakeholders (including the fishing industry) and eNGOs. Pre-consultation impact assessment informing ministerial advice.
Stage 4 - Public consultation	Public consultation on potential compensatory MPAs. Proposed new sites and extensions to existing sites will become material consideration for marine licensing decisions at this point (so any new marine licensable activities can be considered ‘managed’ at this point). Consultation on management options for some activities may also take place at this stage.
Stage 5 - Designation	Defra analyse public consultation responses and evidence. Post-consultation impact assessment informing ministerial advice. Defra ministers decide which compensation site options to progress with. Compensatory MPAs are designated under relevant legislation.
Stage 6 - MPA Management	Natural England and JNCC publish conservation advice. Regulators implement MPA byelaws or other management measures. Sites are monitored and assessed with their condition reported regularly.

Habitat types requiring compensation 

In 2024, on behalf of Defra, DESNZ ran a call to industry for data. It allowed offshore wind developers and industry members to register their interest in using this measure.  

Based on the call to industry data, the following seabed habitats are in scope for compensation designations because of anticipated loss or damage by offshore wind developments: 

• sandbanks that are slightly covered by seawater at all times – special area of conservation (SAC) Annex I habitat type 
• reefs - SAC Annex I habitat type 
• subtidal sand - marine conservation zone (MCZ) broad scale habitat  
• subtidal mud - MCZ broad scale habitat 
• moderate energy circalittoral rock - MCZ broad scale habitat 
• moderate energy infralittoral rock - MCZ broad scale habitat  
• intertidal coarse sediment - MCZ broad scale habitat  
• intertidal sand and muddy sand - MCZ broad scale habitat 
• subtidal coarse sediment - MCZ broad scale habitat  
• subtidal mixed sediment - MCZ broad scale habitat 
• North Sea tunnel valleys - MCZ feature of geological interest  

This list was checked by JNCC and Natural England. It is not definitive and may be subject to change.

Overarching policy principles 

Defra will apply the following principles to determine potential compensatory MPAs: 

• considering sea users - we will seek to limit the impacts of any new designations on marine users, including the fishing industry
• condition of the habitat - comparing the condition of the potential compensatory MPA feature to the damaged feature and how long it will take for the damaged site to be ecologically restored   
• prioritising compensating for what is lost to ensure compensation is delivered for the features unavoidably damaged
• timing of compensation - time lags between a negative effect arising and compensatory measures being in place may be permitted - where this occurs, it is likely that a greater amount of compensation will be needed
• protecting sites in the long-term - to avoid the risk that the potential compensatory MPAs might later be leased for energy or other projects which cause damage, we will also be working with The Crown Estate, MMO and other regulators such as the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) and the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to explore ways in which we might deliver additional long-term protection from future effects that will require compensation

Social and economic principles  

Defra will apply the following principles when collecting and (where the legislation allows) considering the best available evidence on the potential social and economic effects of the longlisted sites:   

• co-develop social and economic criteria for shortlisting potential new MPA sites or extensions, with representative stakeholders. The criteria will consider possible social, economic, and cultural costs and benefits of potential sites, acceptability, and factors related to the successful implementation of management measures. Supporting data will be gathered at a local, regional and national level as appropriate 
• engage stakeholders at a national, regional and local level, for instance through established representative groups, bespoke engagement and wider consultation   
• explain how the social and economic criteria will be applied for site selection, setting out any legal limitations on their application and use in some or all stages of the designation and decision-making process 
• apply social and economic criteria (where appropriate) to potential compensatory sites to determine which sites are taken to consultation 
• following the application of social and economic criteria, publish a document outlining the approach taken and how outcomes were reached  
• prepare an impact assessment for validating the cost to business and households of the potential site designations or extensions (or a de minimis assessment (DMA) where the annual cost to business of a regulatory provision is below the £10 million threshold, as set out in the government’s Better Regulations Framework) - a pre-consultation and final stage assessment will be completed

Ecological principles  

JNCC and Natural England have applied these principles to identify a long list of potential compensatory MPA options. 

Prioritise ensuring the coherence of the MPA network 

Network refers to both the MPA network defined in the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 and the national site network defined in the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 and the Conservation of Offshore Marine Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. 

Use the best ecological evidence  

Use evidence, where practicable and possible, from previous collation exercises to gather the best available ecological evidence. For example, data from EMODnet Seabed Habitats Marine Recorder, the Marine Data Exchange, NBN Atlas, MEDIN and newer programmes such as POSEIDON. 

Ecological evidence can also be supplied by industry, academia, eNGOs and other appropriate sources. The lack of full scientific certainty or undertaking additional surveying (and the subsequent analysis) will not be a reason to delay or postpone the designation process, but confidence in the recommendations will be assessed and provided in line with previous MPA designations. 

Apply an ecosystem functions-based approach 

To select sites to ensure that resulting site options can deliver meaningful compensation for habitat loss or impact. JNCC and Natural England will consider this on a site-by-site basis, reflecting evidence about the ecological functions of habitats projected to be lost or impacted.    

A good example of this is identifying replacement locations for sandbank habitat loss and impact. In such cases, it may be appropriate to advise that replacement covers the full extent of sandbank habitat in another geographical location to reflect management of the system as an ecological unit. 

Prioritise compensation in the same regional sea as the projected loss 

The exception to this is where looking at a wider geographical area would gain more ecologically meaningful compensation. For example, a more ecologically similar example of a habitat being compensated for in another regional sea within English waters. 

Prioritise multiple features in the same geographic location 

Taking this approach means the number of proposals put forward by JNCC and Natural England may be reduced, but they will represent more ecologically meaningful recommendations.