The Sea Empress oil spill occurred within an area of considerable ecological sensitivity and importance.
Numerous Sites of Special Scientific Interest have been designated along the South-West Wales coastline (enforced by the Countryside Council for Wales - CCW).
The Pembrokeshire coastline is Britain's only coastal National Park.
Substantial tracts of the coastline are owned and conserved by the National Trust.
The Island of Skomer is owned by CCW and managed by the Dyfed Wildlife Trust as a National Nature Reserve. The shores and waters around Skomer form one of only three National Marine Nature Reserves in the United Kingdom. The Marine Reserve is managed by CCW.
Lundy Island, another National Marine Nature Reserve in the Bristol Channel, was also affected by this oil spill.
The nearby islands of Grassholm and Ramsey are owned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Further up the Bristol Channel, the Gower Peninsula was Britain's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to be designated.
The Loughor Estuary/Burry Inlet, to the north of the Gower, is one of the most important wetlands in the U.K., and has been designated a RAMSAR site.
University of Wales Swansea School of Biological Sciences Home Page
Authors: Peter Dyrynda, Rob Symberlist
Contact: P.Dyrynda@swansea.ac.uk
Update: 22/1/98