Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can be designated by Scottish Ministers under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 and the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010.

The boundaries of the designated Nature Conservation MPAs provided in this dataset represent the final recommendations within both 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) and in the UK offshore waters adjacent to Scotland (on the basis of advice provided by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee- the statutory adviser to UK Government and devolved administrations on UK-wide and international nature conservation).

A suite of 30 Nature Conservation MPAs (MPAs) were designated by Scottish Ministers on the 24th July, 2014.

A further site West of Scotland MPAmanaged by JNCC was designated by ministers on 25th September 2020.

Four additional Nature Conservation MPAs were designated by Scottish Ministers on the3rd December 2020.

Red Rocks and Longay (Urgent ncMPA)was designated by Scottish Ministers on the10th march 2021

The following URLs provide links to further information on the Nature Conservation MPAs, the wider network and protected areas management: www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/marine-environment/mpanetwork, https://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/safeguarding-protected-areas-and-species/protected-areas/national-designations/marine-protected-areas-mpasand www.jncc.defra.gov.uk/scottishmpas.”