Solent European Marine Sites Annual Monitoring

Monitoring activities in SEMS is extremely important to ensure that management of the sites protects the internationally important habitats around the Solent, and the birds and other wildife that depend on them. The Solent's relevant authorities each complete an online monitoring survey every Spring. The data collected covers the period since the previous year's survey and forms the basis of the annual monitoring; details of all activities within the SEMS are reported, and any effect that these activities are having on the condition of the SEMS is noted. The Solent Forum facilitates the survey and prepares the subsequent report. The survey responses form the basis of the SEMS Annual Management Report.

View the Annual Monitoring Reponse Report for 2017.

SEMS Annual Monitoring 2018

Annual monitoring for 2018 will take place from 1st March - 13th April 2018.

If you have any queries please email: info@solentems.org.uk.

Annual Monitoring: Guidance Note for Relevant Authorities

There are some changes to the online survey in 2018, and it is recommended that relevant authorities read all of the following before completing the online survey.

Logging in and Passwords

Users need to log in to access the survey. Relevant authorities will each be sent a login name and an initial password.

The login name and password are intended for each organisation, so that more than one individual in an authority can take part in completing the survey by sharing the login and password. Once logged in each user will be able to enter their name, however individual names will not show up in the report .
Users will be able to change the password. The password must have at least 8 characters, 2 of which must be numbers; it must not be too similar to very commonly used passwords.
After 3 failed attempts to log in you will be locked out and your account will be disabled; you can email info@solentems.org.uk to request a reset. The administrator will inform you when your account has been re-enabled and you will be able to log in with your original password. If you forget your password, click on ‘Help, I've forgotten my password’ and a new password will be sent to the email address that you registered with SEMS.
Once logged in, the relevant authority name will head up the profile; the rest of the online survey is intuitive, with a few things to watch out for.
The survey can be found at http://survey.solentems.org.uk.

General Functions

The survey form is all on one page, enabling you to scroll up and down throughout the survey at any time. There is a ‘Save Draft’ button at the top of the form, and one at the bottom. There is an automatic 5 hour TIMEOUT, even if you are still typing. It is recommended that you save your draft frequently. After ‘Save Draft’, if you log out you will be able to log back in later and view or edit your entry.
A list of the questions in the online survey is available to download.
A red asterisk * by a question indicates that an entry is required.

Activities

The list of activities monitored can be found at http://www.solentems.org.uk/sems/SEMS_Activities/. Details there describe many of the activities, and provide more information on their impacts on SEMS features and links to Natural England’s Conservation Advice. It is important to consult these activity pages before completing the survey as they focus on potentially damaging activities and are updated frequently with current research and evidence. This will help to improve the quality of responses.
Extra brief descriptions are also shown alongside each activity in the online form, to clarify what each includes and excludes.
Online responses should be backed up by evidence wherever possible, and references or links should be given in support of surveillance observations. For each response you will be asked whether the evidence you are reporting is based on data collection, anecdotal or perceived changes, and whether your confidence in the evidence is high, medium or low. The more substantive the corroboration, the more valuable it will be in informing any need for management.
When deciding on the level of each activity for the past 12 months, as compared to the previous 12 months, there are 4 possible options:

Increase
Decrease
Remains elevated since last year (this shows that you have a concern that the current level of activity may be causing an impact)
No change (this means that current activity levels are having an impact). If an impact is suspected then 'Remains elevated' should be used to describe the activity level

The 'Unknown' option has been removed. Authorities who are responsible for an activity within their jurisdiction should consult colleagues to determine the level of each activity and the potential effect/s on SEMS.
Those who attended Natural England's Conservation Advice workshop in March 2017 will be able to use the lessons learned when completing the survey; this should help improve the quality of responses. Notes from this workshop can be found at http://www.solentems.org.uk/sems/Conservation_objectives/Conservation_advice_workshop/
In addition to activities within their jurisdiction, relevant authorities are asked to include details of other activities they are aware of within the SEMS, such as those which may be unregulated. These, and any effect/s they may be having on the condition of the SEMS, can be detailed at the end of the ‘Activities’ section of the survey, where there is a question on ‘any other comments’. This will contribute to the level of knowledge of activities that may affect the SEMS and may assist in management.
The activity list has not yet been assigned risk categories. These may be developed and allocated through 2018, to ensure they align with Natural England’s Conservation Advice. Meanwhile, all the activities in the survey have been assigned to medium risk for the current year. This means that for the 2018 online survey, risk category of activities should be ignored.

Submitting

Please do not submit hard copy to SEMS as your response needs to be in electronic format on the online frm.
There is an opportunity at the end of the online survey to raise any other points or issues. This Additional Information Section is for issues or concerns that do not fall within the specific questions asked earlier in the survey. At the very end of the survey, a maximum of two documents can be uploaded. Any further documents should be sent separately to info@solentems.org.uk. Web links to documents can be inserted in the relevant boxes throughout the survey.
When the online monitoring survey has been completed, users should press ‘Submit’. If it is not clear whether or not a survey has been submitted, the ‘Save Draft’ button will ensure the survey response is saved, and is uploaded.
The survey can be downloaded or printed; instructions are at the end of the online form. You can view your response at any time by logging back in.
If further help is required please email info@solentems.org.uk or phone 01962 845011 and leave a message. The SEMS Secretariat is only available to answer queries on Wednesday and Thursday each week.