Bridging the Gap Between Policy and Science in Assessing the Health Status of Marine Ecosystems

Elliott, Mike; Austen, Melanie; Berg, Torsten; Borja, Á.; Carstensen, Jacob; Cochrane, Sabine; Danovaro, Roberto; Greenstreet, Simon P. R.; Heiskanen, Anna-Stiina; Lynam, Christop; Snelgrove, Paul V. R.

doi:10.3389/978-2-88945-004-6

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 63 publications

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“…It has been argued that marine protected areas impacted by such bias have low value for biodiversity conservation despite the high costs associated with the conservation efforts (Edgar et al, 2008). In spite of a wide recognition of the importance for conservation policy to be based on scientific evidence (Gjerde and Rulska-Domino, 2012;Adams and Sandbrook, 2013;Rose, 2015;Walsh et al, 2015), it has been suggested that the use of science in conservation and policy decision-making has declined (Parsons et al, 2015;Borja et al, 2016;McConney et al, 2016). This paradox may result, in part, from a lack of effective communication between scientists and policy/decision makers (Holmes and Clark, 2008;Grorud-Colvert et al, 2010;Duarte, 2014;Broderick, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Use of Maps and Models in Conservation and Resource Management (Warning: Results May Vary)

Lecours

2017

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Conservation planning and management typically require accurate and spatially explicit data at scales that are relevant for conservation objectives. In marine conservation, these data are often combined with spatial analytical techniques to produce marine habitat maps. While marine habitat mapping is increasingly used to inform conservation efforts, this field is still relatively young and its methods are rapidly evolving. Because conservation efforts do not always specify standards or guidelines for the production of habitat maps, results can vary dramatically. As representations of real environmental characteristics, habitat maps are highly sensitive to how they are produced. In this review paper, I present four concepts that are known to cause variation in spatial representation and prediction of habitats: the methodology used, the quality and scale of the data, and the choice of variables in regards to fitness for use. I then discuss the potential antinomy associated with the use of habitat maps in conservation: while habitat maps have become an invaluable tool to inform and assist decision-making, maps of the same area built using different methods and data may provide dissimilar representations, thus providing different information and possibly leading to different decisions. Exploring the theories and methods that have proved effective in terrestrial conservation and the spatial sciences, and how they can be integrated in marine habitat mapping practices, could help improve maps used to support marine conservation efforts and result in more reliable products to inform conservation decisions. Having a strong, consistent, transparent, repeatable, and science-based protocol for data collection and mapping is essential for effectively supporting decision-makers in developing conservation and management plans. The development of user-friendly tools to assist in the application of such protocol is crucial to a widespread improvement in practices. I discuss the potential to use interactive and collaborative Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to encourage the conservation and management community, from data collectors and mapmakers to decision-makers, to move toward a digital resilience and to develop such science-based protocol. Until standards and protocols are developed, habitat maps should always be interpreted with care, and the methods and metadata associated with their production should always be explicitly stated.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Use of Maps and Models in Conservation and Resource Management (Warning: Results May Vary)

Lecours

2017

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Open data and the future of conservation biology

Mazaris¹

2017

Ethics. Sci. Environ. Polit.

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Science for Good Environmental Status: A European Joint Action to Support Marine Policy

et al. 2021

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In the last decade, several initiatives have been taken at a European level to adopt the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) by promoting coordination and stimulating integrated actions leading to consistent views on its final goal: the achievement of good environmental status (GES). In its holistic approach, the MSFD fully acknowledges the complexity and variability of marine ecosystems and demands constant scientific support for its actual implementation. Recently, the Joint Programming Initiative on “Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans” (JPI Oceans) launched the joint action “Science for Good Environmental Status” (Science4GES), building on the contribution of different scientific disciplines and communities to better fulfill the scope of the MSFD. In this paper we illustrate and discuss a few crucial aspects of endeavors to implement the MSFD specifically implied in the definition of the metrics for the 11 descriptors and GES in its complexity, as well as improving the strategy governing its implementation. This presentation also describes the challenges, aims and implementation plan for the JPI-O joint action, where a transdisciplinary approach may help in progressing from the comprehensive and far-reaching vision of the MSFD to the achievement of a durable GES.

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Bridging the Gap Between Policy and Science in Assessing the Health Status of Marine Ecosystems

Cited by 4 publications

References 63 publications

On the Use of Maps and Models in Conservation and Resource Management (Warning: Results May Vary)

On the Use of Maps and Models in Conservation and Resource Management (Warning: Results May Vary)

Open data and the future of conservation biology

Science for Good Environmental Status: A European Joint Action to Support Marine Policy

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