A marine natural capital asset and risk register—Towards securing the benefits from marine systems and linked ecosystem services

Abstract

1. Documented biodiversity loss has galvanised a global process to develop conceptual frameworks that link the social and ecological systems. This paper focusses on the development of the first marine natural capital asset and risk register as a foundational decision support tool to understand the risk to ecosystem service delivery in relation to policy or management interventions.2. We make use of existing marine data products to define the component parts of the asset status (extent, condition, spatial configuration) in line with a natural capital approach. We 'Pioneer' the application of this approach in North Devon, UK, an area defined by UK Government to test how marine natural capital can be effectively managed to deliver benefits to the environment, economy and people, and identify how best to share and scale up this learning.3. We demonstrate that the majority of asset-benefit relationships are at a medium to high risk of loss under current use and management. 4. Despite policy and management measures to reduce pressures on marine systems, activities linked to fishing, farming and the water industry continue to pose a medium to high risk to the asset-benefit relationships. A lack of accurate spatial fishing effort data greatly reduces opportunities for rational and targeted approaches to improve the condition status of marine natural capital assets.Marine protected areas as a single tool are insufficient to prevent further loss of biodiversity that underpins all asset-benefit relationships. 5. Synthesis and applications. Through development of the first marine natural capital asset and risk register we demonstrates a novel decision support tool to understand the risk to ecosystem service availability in relation to environmental policy or management interventions. The results highlight that current marine | 1099

A risk assessment for the remote ocean: the case of the South East Atlantic

“…The assimilation and incorporation of all available knowledge into a natural capital approach can assist decision-making in data poor scenarios such as in ABNJ through the provision of context and the identification of potential connections in the absence of detailed understanding of the precise ecological relationships that deliver benefits to people (Rees et al, 2012;Rees et al, 2022). This then enables risk assessment (i.e.…”

“…The asset status indicates its potential to perform the functions and processes that lead to the availability of ecosystem services and hence the availability of human benefit to society (Figure 1) (Mace et al, 2015;Rees et al, 2022). Risk assessment aims to compile available evidence, make the full (known and unknown) consequences of an action visible without the burden of mandatory tests of statistical significance such as that required within traditional environmental accounts such as the UN's System of Environmental-Economic Accounting -Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA) and provide a synthesis of the complexity of marine management to support decision-making (Hooper et al, 2019;Rees et al, 2022). Such an approach is particularly useful where available information is sparse or highly uncertain, as is the case in ABNJ and many marine environments.…”

“…In the absence of habitat maps, knowledge of ecological relationships, and data to inform assessments of asset and ecosystem service status, a 'matrix approach' using literature review and expert opinion can link assets to ecosystem functions and processes, ecosystem services and benefits (Potts et al, 2014). Using this matrix approach, it is possible to focus on the elements of the system for which we have information and for which proxies can be identified to begin to compile a risk register (Figure 2) (Rees et al, 2022).…”

“…The benefits considered in this study include the 'large scale' benefits characterized in literature engaging with ecosystem services (e.g. Saunders et al, 2015;Rees et al, 2022). These include a healthy The natural capital framework.…”

Value of coastal habitats to commercial fisheries in Jersey, English Channel, and the role of marine protected areas

“…Long-term MPAs provide an estimate of recovery time, but few prohibit bottom-towed fishing throughout their boundary (Davies et al, 2021). Further, accurate spatial information on fishing effort is lacking to develop proxy (pressure based) indicators of habitat condition (Rees et al, 2022). This information, in addition to an improved understanding of species-habitat associations, is a key next step to better inform MPA management to support fishery species.…”