Twelve Recommendations for Advancing Marine Conservation in European and Contiguous Seas

Abstract

Like most ocean regions today, the European and contiguous seas experience cumulative impacts from local human activities and global pressures. They are largely in poor environmental condition with deteriorating trends. Despite several success stories, European policies for marine conservation fall short of being effective. Acknowledging the challenges for marine conservation, a 4-year multinational network, MarCons, supported collaborative marine conservation efforts to bridge the gap between science, management and policy, aiming to contribute in reversing present negative trends. By consolidating a large network of more than 100 scientists from 26 countries, and conducting a series of workshops over 4 years (2016-2020), MarCons analyzed challenges, opportunities and obstacles for advancing marine conservation in the European and contiguous seas. Here, we synthesize the major issues that emerged from this analysis and make 12 key recommendations for policy makers, marine managers, and researchers. To increase the effectiveness of marine conservation planning, we recommend (1) designing coherent networks of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the framework of marine spatial planning (MSP) and applying systematic conservation planning principles, including re-evaluation of existing management zones, (2) designing MPA networks within a broader transboundary planning framework, and (3) implementing integrated land-freshwater-sea approaches. To address inadequate or poorly informed management, we recommend (4) developing and implementing

Defining Cost-Effective Solutions in Designing Marine Protected Areas, Using Systematic Conservation Planning

“…Marine Protected Areas, by protecting biodiversity, make a significant contribution to achieving healthy and functional marine ecosystems and, consequently, to providing ecosystem services that humans benefit from Borja et al (2015), Geange et al (2019), Hummel et al (2019). Unfortunately, there is currently no widely accepted approach in protection planning and conservation (Katsanevakis et al, 2020).…”

“…In particular, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 (European Commission [EC], 2020) requires the legal protection of a minimum of 30% of the EU's marine area, of which 10% should be strictly protected. Moreover, it is acknowledged that meeting the conservation targets requires adopting an area-based management for further development of ecological corridors, the consideration of all sectors and activities at sea (including the environmental risks that they might pose), and the consideration of MPAs within marine spatial planning (MSP) (Katsanevakis et al, 2020). Currently, when the majority of protected area designations are made opportunistically instead of systematically (Baldi et al, 2017), vague objectives often emerge from hasty planning processes (Agardy, 2017).…”

Low Pufferfish and Lionfish Predation in Their Native and Invaded Ranges Suggests Human Control Mechanisms May Be Necessary to Control Their Mediterranean Abundances

“…Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Mediterranean, have proven highly effective in increasing fish biomass and restoring top predator populations (Giakoumi et al, 2017). Proposed recommendations to improve marine conservation efforts in the Mediterranean included designing effective networks of MPAs based on systematic conservation planning principles, developing and implementing adaptive management plans, incorporating biological invasions in conservation plans, and prioritizing management actions to control invasive species (Mačić et al, 2018;Giakoumi et al, 2019;Katsanevakis et al, 2020a;Kleitou et al, 2020). Nevertheless, even if they are successful, rebuilding top predator populations will likely take decades.…”

How to Meet New Global Targets in the Offshore Realms: Biophysical Guidelines for Offshore Networks of No-Take Marine Protected Areas

“…It is possible, however, that the combination of guidelines, as presented, will contribute to building ecosystem resilience. Katsanevakis et al (2020) suggest a risk assessment framework when implementing MPAs and MPA networks, which is an effective way to deal with uncertainty and is applicable in offshore ecosystems.…”