Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MSP4BIO (Improved Science-Based Maritime Spatial Planning to Safeguard and Restore Biodiversity in a coherent European MPA network)
Reporting period: 2024-02-01 to 2025-07-31
Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) is an important tool for managing ocean uses and resources sustainably. However, there is little integration between MSP and the designation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). MSP4BIO is enhancing MSP and MPA coordinated management, improving the implementation of relevant policies and providing practical and effective tools for decision-makers to achieve an integrated and sustainable management of marine resources. To that aim, MSP4BIO created an integrated and modular, user friendly Ecological-Socio-Economic (ESE) management framework for the protection and restoration of marine ecosystems. Six test sites at different geographical scales in five European Sea Basins have been selected to showcase and operationalise the ESE framework. Effective interactions among relevant stakeholders are being promoted through site-specific Communities of Practice.
MSP4BIO project started with an analysis of current knowledge and data available for the management of MPAs and identification of key gaps, in parallel with the establishment of the site specific Communities of Practice (CoPs), which participated in shaping of the knowledge and data gaps and site specific needs (D5.1). The project then worked on upgrading the criteria for biodiversity conservation and socio-economic prioritisation using the best ecological knowledge, including ecosystem services, climate change impacts, connectivity, and integrity across coastal, offshore, and deep-sea environments (D3.1 3.2 3.3 4.1). The improved knowledge and criteria are being used to fine-tune decision support tools (DSTs) for better use in public and private decision-making (D3.4). This led to the development of the ESE management framework, which integrates ecological and socio-economic dimensions and policy solutions for coherent policy implementation and improved mainstreaming of biodiversity. The initial ESE includes ecological and socio-economic criteria, methods such as the participatory trade-offs, guidelines for blue economy sectors, the ecological DSTs, integrating database, policy solutions, and examples of ESE applications in the test sites. The site specific applications were validated, leading to site-specific solutions co-developed together with local Communities of Practice, maximising acceptance and uptake. The MSP4BIO project engaged stakeholders through different formats, that also included Science-Policy Dialogues designed to provide feedback to the suggested tools and methods from a policy coherence perspective and to co-develop policy-specific solutions and briefs. Finally, the project ensured the uptake of the ESE management framework through a multitude of dissemination and exploitation activities.
Who does this project serve?
• MPA and MSP managers
• Protection, conservation and restoration stakeholders
• Policy makers from environmental and socio-economic sectors
• Public and business decision-makers at local, national and European levels
Expected impacts:
• Improved MSP Planning: The MSP4BIO results have been/will be integrated in the next rounds of national MSP planning by improving their capacity to incorporate biodiversity conservation objectives into the planning processes and plans. This is expected to increase the use of ecosystem-based MSP as a 'new normal,' allowing for better steering of maritime sectors in ways that effectively support biodiversity conservation and produce benefits for the economy and society through the improved state of marine biodiversity. This also means facilitation of decision making thanks to Decision Support Tools (DST).
• Improved MPA Management: The project's outcomes are expected to increase decision-makers' motivation for MPA management implementation and follow-up by providing concrete solutions and knowledge resulting from the testing sites, as well as better ecological criteria for identification of MPAs and EBSAs, and improvement of the MPA network aiming to achieve coherence.
• Reduction of biodiversity knowledge gap and better Integration of Biodiversity Considerations: MSP4BIO database if open access and fully available online. The project's outcomes result in better integration of biodiversity considerations in sectoral planning and understanding of what can be achieved via MSP and what measures fit better to other policies. This will be reflected in updated sectoral plans, resulting in a more coherent implementation of the new biodiversity policy framework.
• Enhanced Capacity of Planners and Decision Makers: Planners from EU Member States are informed about the ESE demonstrations and validation in test sites, and decision-makers in the test sites participated in the demo session on using the improved DTSs, criteria, and/or data. This enhanced their capacity to incorporate biodiversity considerations into their decision-making processes, and also increase of the dialogue between science and policy.
• Increased Collaboration and Synergies: The MSP4BIO project took the lead in organising and promoting collaboration between biodiversity projects for better research synergies and impact, resulting in more effective use of resources and greater impact on marine biodiversity conservation. Joint policy recommendations have been produced as a policy brief, providing policy actors the main recommendations signed by different sister/related projects.
• MPA and MSP managers
• Protection, conservation and restoration stakeholders
• Policy makers from environmental and socio-economic sectors
• Public and business decision-makers at local, national and European levels
Expected impacts:
• Improved MSP Planning: The MSP4BIO results have been/will be integrated in the next rounds of national MSP planning by improving their capacity to incorporate biodiversity conservation objectives into the planning processes and plans. This is expected to increase the use of ecosystem-based MSP as a 'new normal,' allowing for better steering of maritime sectors in ways that effectively support biodiversity conservation and produce benefits for the economy and society through the improved state of marine biodiversity. This also means facilitation of decision making thanks to Decision Support Tools (DST).
• Improved MPA Management: The project's outcomes are expected to increase decision-makers' motivation for MPA management implementation and follow-up by providing concrete solutions and knowledge resulting from the testing sites, as well as better ecological criteria for identification of MPAs and EBSAs, and improvement of the MPA network aiming to achieve coherence.
• Reduction of biodiversity knowledge gap and better Integration of Biodiversity Considerations: MSP4BIO database if open access and fully available online. The project's outcomes result in better integration of biodiversity considerations in sectoral planning and understanding of what can be achieved via MSP and what measures fit better to other policies. This will be reflected in updated sectoral plans, resulting in a more coherent implementation of the new biodiversity policy framework.
• Enhanced Capacity of Planners and Decision Makers: Planners from EU Member States are informed about the ESE demonstrations and validation in test sites, and decision-makers in the test sites participated in the demo session on using the improved DTSs, criteria, and/or data. This enhanced their capacity to incorporate biodiversity considerations into their decision-making processes, and also increase of the dialogue between science and policy.
• Increased Collaboration and Synergies: The MSP4BIO project took the lead in organising and promoting collaboration between biodiversity projects for better research synergies and impact, resulting in more effective use of resources and greater impact on marine biodiversity conservation. Joint policy recommendations have been produced as a policy brief, providing policy actors the main recommendations signed by different sister/related projects.