In 1993, the MNCR initiated a survey of lagoons (isolated saline water bodies) in Scotland to provide information to support the implementation of the 1992 EC Habitats Directive and to contribute to the general MNCR survey programme. Eighteen lagoons in MNCR Sector 1, the Shetland Islands were surveyed in August 1993, and sixteen lagoons were surveyed in July 1994 in MNCR Sector 2, the Orkney Islands.