Suchergebnisse

Within the southern North Sea, several EU Member States are developing or have already implemented marine spatial plans for their EEZs. However, marine spatial p lanning (MSP) is usually carried out at the national level and largely ignores the possible mutual benefits of crossborder cooperation. The MASPNOSE project has facilitated two concrete, cross‐border MSP initiatives:  the Thornton Bank area on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands where crossborder coordination could used to address wind energy development, shipping and fisheries management  the Dogger Bank international fisheries management plan developed by the North Sea Regional Advisory Council (NSRAC). Here, cross‐border MSP was used to develop a stakeholder perspective on spatial management measures. The two case studies were in different stages of the cross‐border MSP process. In this paper we focus on the role of knowledge and research in these two planning initiatives. We describe the knowledge requirements that have been articulated (e.g. on ecosystem components, spatial‐temporal patterns, current and future human use, institutional setting) and how these requirements have been addressed through data workshops with stakeholders, analysis of policy documents and interviews. In the Thornton Bank case study the knowledge requirements focused on the institutional and administrative settings and the identification of policy priorities. In the Dogger Bank case study, stakeholder knowledge was combined with research knowledge to assess zoning options for the Dogger Bank area

Terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems are connected via multiple biophysical and ecological processes. Identifying and quantifying links among ecosystems is necessary for the uptake of integrated conservation actions across realms. Such actions are particularly important for species using habitats in more than one realm during their daily or life cycle. We reviewed information on the habitats of 2,408 species of European conservation concern and found that 30% of the species use habitats in multiple realms. Transportation and service corridors, which fragment species habitats, were identified as the most important threat impacting ~70% of the species. We examined information on 1,567 European Union (EU) conservation projects, funded over the past 25 years, to assess the adequacy of efforts towards the conservation of "multi-realm" species at a continental scale. We discovered that less than a third of "multi-realm" species benefited from projects that included conservation actions across multiple realms. To achieve the EU's conservation target of halting biodiversity loss by 2020 and effectively protect multi-realm species, integrated conservation efforts across realms should be reinforced by: 1) recognizing the need for integrated management at a policy level, 2) revising conservation funding priorities across realms, and 3) implementing integrated land-freshwater-sea conservation planning and management.