I mapped the Marine Protected Area network along the entire Welsh coast

I live in South Wales and I'm hoping to work in marine conservation in the future. As part of building my skills in GIS (the mapping technology used in conservation), I created this infographic showing the network of Marine Protected Areas along the Welsh coastline.

Wales has 139 MPAs covering 69% of its inshore waters, including SACs protecting habitats like subtidal sandbanks, Sabellaria reefs, and saltmarsh, and SPAs protecting internationally important bird populations. Key sites include Cardigan Bay (home to the UK's largest resident bottlenose dolphin population), Skomer MCZ (half the world's Manx shearwaters), and the Severn Estuary (74,000 overwintering birds and over 110 fish species).

The map was created in QGIS using freely available data from JNCC, EMODnet, and Ordnance Survey, then designed in Affinity Designer.

I'd love to hear from anyone working in marine conservation or biology - does the map tell the story effectively?