Marine spatial planning in the Aegean Sea

The expansion and intensification of marine uses have severe cumulative impacts on marine ecosystems and human well-being, unless they are properly managed with an ecosystem-based management approach. A systematic conservation planning approach, using Marxan with zones, was applied to generate alternative marine spatial plans for the Aegean Sea. Relevant human uses were included and their cumulative impact on a wide set of key biodiversity features was considered in the analysis. Different cost scenarios were developed to gain insight on the effects of the approaches used to assess socio-economic factors, and their potential impact on spatial plans. The vulnerability weights (the relative vulnerability of ecological features to specific human activities and their impacts) that were estimated based on a cumulative impact assessment, allowed the assessment of each zone in contributing to the achievement of conservation targets, through a transparent planning approach.

The spatial plans generated differed greatly depending on the method used to estimate opportunity costs and evaluate human activities in monetary terms. Results indicate that special care should be given to how socio-economic activities, their impact on the ecosystems, and related costs are incorporated into planning. The proposed approach demonstrates how EU member states may effectively comply with the new Biodiversity Strategy 2030 targets, while planning for the sustainable use of their marine resources.

By implementing SCP to produce marine spatial plans for an area of global conservation concern, a broader example of how EU Member States can fulfil their commitments related to marine spatial planning, focusing on biodiversity conservation, is provided in the present study. As recommended by Katsanevakis et al. (2020), SCP can assist member states to apply MSP that meets conservation needs and secures the establishment of ecologically coherent networks of Marine Protected Areas across European seas, as requested by EU policies (e.g. the Habitats and Birds Directives, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, and the 2030 EU Biodiversity Strategy). Although the recommendation of SCP as a means to achieve conservation objectives set by EU policies is not new, its implementation in practice lags behind.

References

Katsanevakis, S., Coll, M., Fraschetti, S., Giakoumi, S., Goldsborough, D., Mačić, V., Mackelworth, P., Rilov, G., Stelzenmüller, V., Albano, P.G., Bates, A.E., Bevilacqua, S., Gissi, E., Hermoso, V., Mazaris, A. D., Pita, C., Rossi, V., Teff-Seker, Y., Yates, K. (2020). Twelve recommendations for advancing marine conservation in European and contiguous seas. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, 879.