Tag: marine protected areas

A National Park for the Baltic Sea? A Panel Discussion in Kiel

Against the background of proposals to establish a new marine national park in the territorial waters of the German Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein, the Centre for Ocean and Society at Kiel University and the EnJust Network, organised an interdisciplinary panel discussion which took place in Kiel on the evening of January 17th. The panel discussion sought to combine perspectives from marine ecology (Jan Dierking, GEOMAR Kiel), philosophy (Konrad Ott), marine spatial planning (Kira Gee, Hereon), international law (Nele Matz-Lück, Kiel University) and geography / marine governance (my own contribution). Unfortunately, on the day both Kira and Nele were unable to attend. The panel discussion, focussed on the question of the suitability of various marine protection concepts for the conservation of the Baltic Sea, rather than debating arguments in favour or against a national park per se, was moderated by Annegret Kuhn and Christian Elster (both Kiel University). We spoke (in German) to an engaged audience from both Kiel University and associated research institutes and the wider public in a packed room.

Map of proposed National Park area (source: adapted from MEKUN)
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Better Governance for Small Islands: FREIIA project meeting: Koster islands, Sweden

Last week, the FREIIA (Facilitating Resilience Enhancing Islands Innovation Approaches) project team met on the Koster islands in Sweden for two days of intensive meetings and excursions. The Interreg North Sea Programme funded FREIIA project includes researchers and practitioners from a diverse range of organisations in Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Germany, with a common focus on the development of better governance for small offshore islands. The Koster islands and Koster National Park are located off the southwest coast of Sweden, close to the border with Norway. They cover an area of approximately 12 square kilometres with a resident population of c. 300 people.

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Ecosystem-Based Marine Spatial Planning for the Dogger Bank

As part of my teaching at Leuphana University Lüneburg, I gave a seminar in Winter Semester 22/23 on ‘Spatial Planning in Practice’ with a particular focus on ecosystem-based marine spatial planning. The seminar formed part of the minor programme in Spatial Science. The interdisciplinary group of undergraduate students brought their own perspectives and skills to the complex task of preparing an ecosystem-based transboundary marine spatial plan for the Dogger Bank area of the North Sea. The students initially worked in small groups focussed on thematic issues of relevance to the case study area, including offshore wind, shipping, fishing, marine mammals and birds.

Students discussing planning options for the Dogger Bank, bringing together diverse stakeholder perspectives.

Mapping fishing grounds at the Dogger Bank

The groups identified objectives for their area of focus for both 2030 and 2060 as well as potential planning measures targeted at achieving those objectives. In a subsequent step, the students exchanged information between the groups and engaged in negotiation with the aim of achieving common objectives, balancing the expansion of offshore renewable energy with protection of the marine environment and against the background of existing uses of marine space.

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New project: Guidelines for Cetacean-friendly Marine Spatial Planning

(C) Erik Christensen, Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0

Following an open tender process, I have been commissioned by the ASCOBANS Secretariat to develop guidelines for Cetacean-friendly marine spatial planning. ASCOBANS (Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas, entered into force 1994) is the key international agreement for the conservation of small cetaceans (harbour porpoises, dolphins, smaller whale species) in Northern and Western Europe. The ASCOBANS Secretariat is hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and located in Bonn. The development of guidelines for cetacean-friendly MSP contributes to the realisation of effective ecosystem-based management.

In this work, I collaborate with the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) and the Seawatch Foundation (UK).

Assessing the environmental credentials of marine spatial plans in Europe

In accordance with the EU MSP directive all EU coastal member states were required to produce marine spatial plans by 2021. Not all have met this deadline but many are now published and adopted by national governments. A key requirement of the MSP directive is that marine spatial plans follow an ecosystem-based approach and contribute to the achievement of Good Environmental Status for marine ecosystems, as set out in the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Over the last nine months or so, I have been engaged in the evaluation of selected national-level marine spatial plans, with a view to assessing their degree of alignment with EU environmental legislation and policy objectives. This work has been commissioned by environmental NGOs: Birdlife International and the Irish umbrella NGO Sustainable Water Network (SWAN). In the following, I provide an overview of this work with links to the published reports.

Source: (C) Birdlife International
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