The map above shows the marine share (by area) of Sites of Community Importance (SCI) by each NUTS3 coastal region (updated to 2017). The area of SCI is used as an indicator of protection given to maintaining biodiversity in a region and the marine share indicates how focused this protection is on marine species and habitats for that region. The SCI data was used in Work Package 6 (WP6) to estimate one of the vulnerability vectors (vector four), ‘Protection of coastal areas’. The data is based on the sites protected under the Habitats Directive and the percentage of those protecting coastal and marine habitats based on area. It is noted that the UK SCI marine protected area was extended significantly in 2017 through the Conservation of Offshore Marine Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. Therefore the map above represents a snapshot in time and is not representative of the current state of SCIs as newer SCI areas are continuously being designated as can be seen in Figure 1 below. For more data on SCI’s in the EU see Natura 2000 data - the European network of protected sites.