Borkum Reef Ground SAC

The main feature of this approximately 625 km² protected area with depths of between 18 m and 33 m is a large sandbank covering some 521 km² and including patches of reef. The site borders the Netherlands to the west and the German 12-mile-zone to the south. Its northern and eastern limits reflect the extent and distribution of sandbank communities. The sandbank is mostly medium to coarse sand.

The sandbank with its patches of cobble field has a characteristic diversity of substrates and habitats. The coarse sand communities typical of sandbank habitats (Goniadella-Spisula, a tube worm/clam community) are interspersed with a fine mosaic of benthic communities. The reefs host a characteristic epifauna of sea anenomies, dead man’s fingers, white weed, sea squirts, hornwrack, sponges and various crustaceans.
The tightly interlocking presence of these two habitat types accounts for one of the site’s special ecological qualities, because it has exceptional biodiversity. Looking at the macrozoobenthos alone – sea floor creatures from one millimeter upwards – some 165 species have been found there since research began in 1998. Many of these are on the Red List.

Habitats Directive Annex II species found here are harbour porpoises, grey seals and common seals. These are consequently included in the conservation objectives. Harbour porpoises are spotted with low average frequency but on an ongoing basis, sometimes with calves. They are thought to be part of the fairly small, endangered subpopulation of the southern North Sea whose distribution centre is off the Dutch coast. The Borkum Reef Ground serves the two seal species mainly as a feeding habitat, but partly also as a corridor for migration, for example to feeding sites and other resting sites.

A further Habitats Directive Annex II species covered by the conservation objectives is the twait shad, which finds marine habitats for feeding and wintering on the site. This primarily relates to the population concentrated in the outer Ems estuary.

Name	Habitat type	Species	Population
Borkum Reef Ground	Sandbanks: 521 km² Reefs: 23 km²	Harbour porpoise	51 – 100 *
		Common seal	251 – 500 *
		Grey seal	nachgew., Recorded, no current population statistics
		Twait shad	nachgew., Recorded, no current population statistics

NATURA 2000 STANDARD DATA FORM
For sites eligible for identification as Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) and for Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).
2104-301_Borkum-Riffgrund_2011_08_30.pdf

Conservation objectives

General conservation objectives have been set as follows for the habitat types and species by which the site is defined:

• Maintenance and restoration of the site’s specific ecological functions, biological diversity and natural hydrodynamics and morphodynamics;
• Maintenance and restoration at favourable conservation status of habitat type 1110 (sandbanks which are slightly covered by sea water all the time) and habitat type 1170 (reefs) together with their characteristic and endangered ecological communities and species;
• Maintenance and restoration at favourable conservation status of the following Habitats Directive species and their natural habitats: Harbour porpoise, common seal, grey seal and twait shad.

See also:

Conservation objectives for the
Borkum Reef Ground SAC (DE 2104-301) in the German North Sea EEZ
Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, January 2008
Erhaltungsziele_Borkum_Riffgrund_2009_03_06.pdf