We are delighted that our National Seascape Character Assessment reports and map for England have been published by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO).

LUC has been working with the MMO since 2012 to undertake Seascape Assessments region by region, to underpin statutory marine planning. Our first Seascape Assessment for the South was published in 2014 and was Highly Commended by the Landscape Institute. Since then, we have produced assessments for the South East, North East, North West and South West marine plan areas. Workshops held in each marine plan area earlier in 2018 helped verify the character information contained within the assessments, as well as the names and boundaries of the Marine Character Areas (MCAs).

The national map of MCAs for England’s Inshore and Offshore marine plan areas accounts for the ‘flow’ of character across administrative boundaries, including Wales and Scotland. The MCAs are the seascape equivalents to Natural England’s ‘National Character Areas’ for landscape.

The evidence provided by this suite of work underpins the marine plans’ seascape policies and will help ensure seascape is considered in marine and coastal planning.

Our newly published reports for England can be viewed here

Further information:

Our seascape assessment for the South marine plan areas

Our Wales National Seascape Character Assessment 

More about understanding and assessing seascape character