The primary objective of this deliverable is to produce data-driven regional and ocean basin-scale systematic conservation planning scenarios for the whole Atlantic using the data collated and processed by iAtlantic. To achieve this, site prioritisation techniques are used to identify areas where different management regimes can be applied and to inform sustainable development strategies in the Atlantic.
Systematic conservation planning (SCP) is frequently used to support the development of area-based management tools (ABMTs). SCP offers a framework to help incorporate ecological and social values as described in conservation and sustainable management objectives. Previous efforts using SCP have demonstrated the benefits of a systematic approach to cross-sectoral planning and management described the key benefits of systematic planning relative to sector-specific or ad hoc approaches. These include “transparency (e.g., defined goals, explicit analyses of data, quantitative objectives), inclusiveness (e.g., engagement of diverse stakeholders, consideration of known elements of biodiversity), integration (e.g., complementarity of selected areas and actions, spatial connectivity), and efficiency (e.g., costs to users and implementers are minimised)”. SCP is not a goal in itself, but a tool to address ecological, socioeconomic or cultural goals. Management may have a variety of objectives, and may use a range of tools and stringency of regulation to achieve them. iAtlantic Work Package 6 (WP6), provided an overview of the sustainable management and conservation objectives reflected in political commitments, declarations and legal obligations related to the Atlantic marine environment. This overview resulted in a list of potential goals and objectives and was intended to inform discussions on the implementation of the systematic conservation planning approach developed by iAtlantic. It also provided information for the consultation with diverse stakeholder groups, recognising that both the CBD post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and the UN BBNJ negotiations will provide an impetus and mechanisms for ABMT in ABNJ.
The primary objective of this deliverable is to produce data-driven regional and ocean basin-scale systematic conservation planning scenarios for the whole Atlantic using the data collated and processed by iAtlantic. To achieve this, site prioritisation techniques are used to identify areas where different management regimes can be applied and to inform sustainable development strategies in the Atlantic. SCP approaches envisaged in iAtlantic will build from many previous efforts, such as those undertaken as part of the ATLAS Project in the North Atlantic.
Our ocean basin-scale results suggested that the systematic conservation planning outputs are highly dependent on the goals and objectives considered in the implementation of each prioritization scenario. Similarly, the use of different cost layers and targets in inputs or the implementation of different methodologies to address specific management questions may result in different conservation plans. This highlights the need for the interested stakeholders to strive to develop goals and objectives that consider feasible balances of the needs of Humanity and Biodiversity. The implementation of the prioritization algorithms consistently identified some important areas for conservation regardless of what goals, objectives and algorithms were implemented, demonstrating the essential need for basin-scale management approaches. These encompass areas across continental shelves of many parts of the Atlantic Ocean, portions of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the abyssal plains and deep-sea ridge ecosystems of the Benguela Current from the Walvis Ridge to South Africa, the West European Basin, the Newfoundland basin and ridge, the sea between the Sierra Leone Rise and the Cape Verde Basin, the Guinea and Angola Basin, part of the Guiana basin, the Caribbean Sea, and the Argentina Basin. Nevertheless, further development of data and methodologies will be key to informing future effective management plans.
Despite all the limitations and caveats discussed in detail throughout the full document, we demonstrate that developing conservation scenarios at an ocean basin-scale is feasible and can provide crucial information for the present and future management and protection of Atlantic Ocean.
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iAtlantic Deliverable 5.3: Ocean scale management scenarios for the Atlantic – Summary report. Report by T. Morato et al. (March 2024) (PDF, 5.7MB)
Download the full technical report (PDF, 90MB)
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This project received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 818123 (iAtlantic). This output reflects only the author’s view and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.