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.