A Marine Character Area (MCA) is a marine geographic area around the Welsh coastline, designated by Natural Resources Wales for the purposes of characterising the key natural, cultural and perceptual influences on the defined area.^[1]

MCAs are part of the Welsh Government's response to the European Landscape Convention and the 2011 UK Marine Policy Statement (MPS), itself a response to the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009.^[1] Welsh MCAs are described in a series of documents originated in 2014.

List of Marine Character Areas

• MCA 1 Dee Estuary (Wales) (pdf)
• MCA 2 Colwyn Bay and Rhyl flats (pdf)
• MCA 3 Red Wharf and Conwy Bays (pdf)
• MCA 4 North Wales Open Waters (pdf)
• MCA 5 North-West Anglesey Open Waters (pdf)
• MCA 6 North Anglesey Coastal Waters (pdf)
• MCA 7 Holyhead Bay and the Skerries (pdf)
• MCA 8 West Anglesey Open Waters (pdf)
• MCA 9 Holy Island West and Penrhos Bay (pdf)
• MCA 10 Menai Strait (pdf)
• MCA 11 Caernarfon Bay (pdf)
• MCA 12 Llyn and South West Anglesey Open Waters (pdf)
• MCA 13 Llyn and Bardsey Island (pdf)
• MCA 14 Tremadog Bay and Dwyryd Estuary (pdf)
• MCA 15 Cardigan Bay North and Estuaries (pdf)
• MCA 16 Cardigan Bay (South) (pdf)
• MCA 17 Outer Cardigan Bay (pdf)
• MCA 18 West Pembrokeshire Coastal Waters and Islands (pdf)
• MCA 19 West Pembrokeshire Islands Bars and Inshore Waters (pdf)
• MCA 20 Irish Sea Offshore (pdf)
• MCA 21 Milford Haven (pdf)
• MCA 22 South Pembrokeshire Coastal and Inshore Waters (pdf)
• MCA 23 South Pembrokeshire Open Waters (pdf)
• MCA 24 Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries (pdf)
• MCA 25 Gower and Helwick Coastal Waters (pdf)
• MCA 26 Swansea Bay and Porthcawl (pdf)
• MCA 27 Glamorgan Coastal Waters and Nash Sand (pdf)
• MCA 28 Bristol Channel (Wales) (pdf)
• MCA 29 Severn Estuary (Wales) (pdf)