Sites of Special Scientific Interest : Tenth report of session 2008-09, report, together with formal minutes, oral and written Evidence

This 1977 book analyses and describes the wild flora and fauna of Britain and identifies important sites that exemplify this rich heritage.

This second edition of 'The Geology of England and Wales' is considerably expanded from its predecessor, reflecting the increase in our knowledge of the region, and particularly of the offshore areas. Forty specialists have contributed to 18 chapters, which cover a time range from 700 million years ago to 200 million years into the future. A new format places all the chapters in approximately temporal order. Both offshore and economic geology now form an integral part of appropriate chapters.

IUCN's Protected Areas Management Categories, which classify protected areas according to their management objectives, are today accepted as the benchmark for defining, recording, and classifying protected areas. They are recognized by international bodies such as the United Nations as well as many national governments. As a result, they are increasingly being incorporated into government legislation. These guidelines provide as much clarity as possible regarding the meaning and application of the Categories. They describe the definition of the Categories and discuss application in particular biomes and management approaches.

This book describes in detail numerous geological sites throughout the mountains of Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Eastern Arabia. The region is well known for its oil and gas reserves in the desert interior, and Permian-Mesozoic shelf carbonates exposed in the mountains of the Musandam peninsula, Jebel al-Akhdar and Saih Hatat, where deep wadi canyons provide impressive three-dimensional views into the crust. The region has numerous globally important geological sites, including the world’s largest and best-exposed ophiolite complex, the Semail Ophiolite, which is a vast thrust sheet of Cretaceous ocean crust and upper mantle emplaced onto the Arabian continental margin. Other sites include spectacular fossil localities, subduction zone metamorphic rocks (eclogites, blueschists, amphibolites), fold-thrust belts, giant sheath folds and Precambrian salt domes, as well as the huge sand dunes of the Rub al’Khali, the Empty Quarter, and the separate Wahiba (Sharkiyah) sandsea of Eastern Oman. Written by Mike Searle, who has worked on geological research projects throughout Oman and UAE almost every year since 1978, this book describes the field geology of each site and includes a wealth of maps, field photos and diagrams illustrating key features. It also discusses the history of exploration of Arabia and the search for its hidden geological secrets. The book provides the geological basis for the establishment of a series of World Heritage Sites, National GeoParks and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) throughout the region. As such, it is of interest to geologists, tourists, mountaineers, trekkers, rock climbers and naturalists.

In 2000, the government set a target of getting 95 per cent of all SSSI land in England into a healthy or improving condition by 2010. In 2002 around 52 per cent of SSSI land was in target condition. Since then, the reported condition of SSSIs has improved and by March 2008, 83 per cent of the land area of SSSIs covering 888,706 hectares was in target condition. 45 per cent was in a healthy condition. A further 38 per cent was improving in condition, though it may take some years to reach a healthy condition. Nearly �400 million of public money has been spent on improving the condition of SSSIs since 2000, equivalent to about �50 per hectare per year. During this period Natural England has identified the condition of all SSSIs and the actions needed to bring them into a healthy condition. Defra and Natural England have worked with major landowners and occupiers to improve the condition of SSSI land. This expenditure and the progress made needs to be supported by improving the administrative and oversight functions of Natural England. All SSSIs are supposed to be subject to assessments every six years, but Natural England is behind with the task. About 25 per cent of units have not been assessed within the required six year period. Around a third of sites do not have conservation objectives in place which describe the conservation needed and allow changes in condition to be judged.

For the geologist, amateur no less than professional, Oman holds endless fascination. Its territory presents extraordinary contrasts: the dramatic arid massifs of the northern jabal and the rolling upland pastures of Dhofar, the sand sea of Ar Rub al Khali, the vast salt pan of the Umm al Harasis, the wild beauty of its promontories and rockscapes. And mark the detail of it all - not merely the visual impact of the rock landscape but the information locked within or between the rocks - the fossils of marine life high in the mountains, or the oil deep underground, or the brilliantly elaborate crystal forms of its geodes, each of them carrying evidence of the drama of Oman's geological forming æons ago. This second edition of Oman's Geological Heritage, with its wealth of pictures and diagrams, places this absorbing and important field of knowledge within the reach of every reader.

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