Marine Strategy Framework Directive– descriptors and criteria

Johnny Reker

Agency for Spatial and Environmental Planning

Introduction

- Background

- CIS process / organisation

- Descriptors

- Criteria

- Role for habitat mapping in MSFD?

- Questions?

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Background

- EU’s 6. Environment Action Programme 2002 – marine

strategy- Directive 2008 - operational marine strategies 2016- Good Environmental Status by 2020 (?)

- Environmental pillar in EU’s maritime policy- Integrated maritime management- Road map for maritime spatial planning- Revision of EU’s Common Fishery Policy- Strong linkage to EU´s structural funds

- Linkage to Regional Sea Conventions and bilateralt- Baltic Sea Action Plan (2007)

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Aim of the Directive

Art. 1.1 …Member States shall take the necessary measures to achieve or

maintain good environmental status in the marine environment…

Art. 1.2Marine strategies shall be developed and implemented in order to:a) Protect and preserve the marine environment, prevents its

deterioration or restore marine ecosystmens…

Art. 1.3Marine strategies shall apply an ecosystem-based approach to the

management of human activities, ensuring the collective pressure of such activities is kept within levels compatible with the achievement of GES… … enabling the sustainable use og marine goods and services…

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The 5 elements of the marine strategies

1. Description of Good Environmental Status – 2010

2. Initial Assessment (status, pressures, socio-economic

analysis) - 2012

3. Environmental targets – 2012

4. Monitoring Programme – 2014

5. Programme of Measures – 2015-16

Alle elements requires scientific information incl. on habitats

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Timeframe for implementation

Descritption of GES (Art5.2a(ii) and Art 9)

Identification of targets and indikators (Art 5 stk.2a(iii) og art 10)

Information on Annex II (art 7)

Programme of Measures (Art 5.2b(i)

Transposition (Art 26.1) + informing the Commission

Criteria and methodological standards (Art 9.3) for assessment of Good Environmental Status

Initial assessment Art5.2a(i) and Art 8)

Monitoring Programme (Art5 stk2a(iv) og Art 11)

Programme of Measures entry into force (Art. 5 stk2b(ii)

GES achieved (Art 1)

Entry into force (Art 27)

15. July 2008+ 2 år =

15. July2010+ 4 år =

15. July2012

+ 6 år =

15. July 2014

Senest

i 2015

Senest

I 2016

Senest

i 2020

Responsible authorities identified (Art 7)

Coherent and representative networks of MPAs (Art 13. 4-6)

Senesti 2013

Sub-divisions of marine regions identified (Art 4.2)

+ 2½ år = 15. january 2011

Deskriptor 1

HAV DIRPolicy Guidance

KomitéMS only

Maritime Policy

Experts, focal point

WG AGood Environmental

Status

Deskriptor 2 Deskriptor 3

Management group

Steering group

WG BInformation exchange

WG CMonitoring & assessment

Strategic Coordination

Group

Interessenter

e.g. NATUR DIR

COMMISSION MS

CIS Organisation 2009- 2010

Deskriptor 1

HAV DIRPolicy Guidance

KomitéMS only

Maritime Policy

Experts, focal point

WG GESGood Environmental

Status

Deskriptor 2 Deskriptor 3

Management group

Steering group

WG DIKEInformation exchange

WG ESASocio-economy

Strategic Coordination

Group

Interessenter

e.g. NATUR DIR

COMMISSION MS WG ?Monitoring

WG ?Integrated GES

assessment

WG ?Initial Assessment

Definition of GES - deskriptors

Art. 9…Member States shall, in respect of each marine region or subregion

concerned, determine, for the marine waters, a set of characteristics for good environmental status on the basis of the qualitative descriptors listed in Annex 1.

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Annex I – Qualitative descriptors

(1) Biological diversity is maintained. The quality and occurrence of habitats and the distribution and abundance of species are in line with prevailing physiographic, geographic and climatic conditions.

(2) Non-indigenous species introduced by human activities are at levels that do not adversely alter the ecosystems.

(3) Populations of all commercially exploited fish and shellfish are within safe biological limits, exhibiting a population age and size distribution that is indicative of a healthy stock.

(4) All elements of the marine food webs, to the extent that they are known, occur at normal abundance and diversity and levels capable of ensuring the long-term abundance of the species and the retention of their full reproductive capacity.

(5) Human-induced eutrophication is minimised, especially adverse effects thereof, such as losses in biodiversity, ecosystem degradation, harmful algae blooms and oxygen deficiency in bottom waters.

(6) Sea floor integrity is at a level that ensures that the structure and functions of the ecosystems are safeguarded and benthic ecosystems, in particular, are not adversely affected.

(7) Permanent alteration of hydrographical conditions does not adversely affect marine ecosystems.

(8) Concentrations of contaminants are at levels not giving rise to pollution effects.

(9) Contaminants in fish and other seafood for human consumption do not exceed levels established by Community legislation or other relevant standards.

(10) Properties and quantities of marine litter do not cause harm to the coastal and marine environment.

(11) Introduction of energy, including underwater noise, is at levels that do not adversely affect the marine environment.

(referred to in Articles 3(5), 9(1), 9(3) and 24)

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Description of GES - characteristics

Art. 9- …Member States shall, in respect of each marine region or

subregion concerned, determine, for the marine waters, a set of characteristics for good environmental status on the basis of the qualitative descriptors listed in Annex 1.

- Member States shall take into account the indicative lists of elements set out in Table 1 of the Annex III, and in particular, physical and chemical features, habitat types, biological features and hydro-morphology

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Annex III, Table 1

17 characteristics

for GES

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Beskrivelse af god miljøtilstand - påvirkninger

Art. 9- …Member States shall, in respect of each marine region or

subregion concerned, determine, for the marine waters, a set of characteristics for good environmental status on the basis of the qualitative descriptors listed in Annex 1.

- Member States shall take into account the indicative lists of elements set out in Table 1 of the Annex III, and in particular, physical and chemical features, habitat types, biological features and hydro-morphology

- Member States shall also take into account the pressures or impacts of human activities in each marine region or subregion, in regard to the indicative lists set out in Table 2, Annex III

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Annex III, Table 2

18 types of

pressures and

impacts

Too much pressure…13/28

Definition of GES - criteria

- The European Commission commissioned the Joint Research

Centre (JRC) and the International Council for the Exploration of

the Sea (ICES) to facilitate the preparation of the scientific basis

for the development of criteria and methodological standards in

relation to 8 of the 11 Good Environmental Status (GES)

descriptors in the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)

during the course of 2009.

- With this purpose, the JRC and ICES were requested to establish

Task Groups (TGs) for each of these 8 descriptors.

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Definition of GES - deskriptors

The aim of the work of the TGs is to put forward a comparable and

consistent interpretation of the concept of GES.

The task is to get from very general definitions of the descriptors

(Article 3 and Annex I of the Directive) to a common understanding

of what GES is, and how status of ecosystems relative to it should

be quantified.

The task is not to prescribe boundaries between good and bad.

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Criteria - status

- 10 reports describing the descriptors (700 p.)- App. 80 criteria identified in the draft Commission

Decision (17 p.)- The criteria needs to be made operational for all

European Seas

- Being negotiated until 12 of May 2010- Hearing in Parliament- Possible adoption by a Commission Decision 9th of

July 2010- Supported by a Commission Staff Working Paper

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Criteria with relevance to habitat mapping

D1 Biodiversity:

- Species distribution: Distributional range (1.1), distributional pattern (1.2) and area covered by the species (for sessile/attached species) (1.3)

- Habitat distribution, extent and condition: Habitat distributional range (1.10; 1.14), Habitat distributional pattern (1.11;1.15), Habitat extent (1.12).  

- Habitat extent: Area of habitat (1.16) and habitat volume (1.17)

- Habitat condition: The habitat condition relates to the physical (structure and associated physical characteristics, including structuring species), hydrological and chemical conditions (1.18).

- Community condition: species composition (1.19), relative abundance (1.20) and community biomass (1.21) functional traits (1.22).

- Ecosystem structure: Composition and relative proportions of ecosystem components (habitats and species) (1.26) 

- Ecosystem processes and functions: Interactions between the structural components of the ecosystem (1.27).  

Criteria with relevance to habitat mapping

D4 Marine food webs: - Indicators describe abundance trends (4.6) to identify changes in

population status potentially affecting food web status. - (ii) groups/species that are targeted by human activities; (iii)

habitat-defining groups/species (e.g. benthic fauna);

D5 Eutrophication:- Where appropriate; macroalgae cover, macro algae depth limit,

increase of opportunistic macroalgae (e.g. can form blankets over the natural flora and suffocate benthic animals) (5.5).

- If relevant decrease in perennial seaweeds and seagrasses (e.g. fucoids and wracks, eelgrass and Neptune grass, that are adversely impacted by decrease in water transparency. If relevant annual to multi-year changes from fucoid/kelp to opportunistic green/brown algae (5.8).

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Criteria with relevance to habitat mapping

D6 Sea-floor integrity:

- Type, abundance, biomass and areal extent of relevant biogenic substrate (6.1)

- Extent of the seabed affected by human activities (such as dredging, trawling or other alterations which may influence the substrate) for the different substrate types (6.2)

- Diversity and richness indices, based on species number and relative abundance in the benthic community (6.3)

- Presence of particularly sensitive or tolerant species (6.4)

- Presence of benthic communities associated with low oxygen conditions (6.10)

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Criteria with relevance to habitat mapping

D7 Permanent alteration of hydrographical conditions:

- Spatial extent of benthic habitat affected by the permanent alteration ( 7.2)

- Changes in habitat functions due to altered hydrographical conditions (e.g. spawning areas, breeding and feeding areas and migration routes of fish, birds and mammals) (7.8).

All in all, app. 25-27 out of app. 80+ criteria can

be informed by habitat mapping or modelling.

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Benthic broad scale habitats

Examples:

60 benthic landscapes identified

Coarse, but coherent habitat map

Spans an entire marine region

Builds upon Annex III, table 1 requirements

Possible to “zoom in” and operate at higher resolution adding new layers of information/mapping – link to other Annex III elements

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Benthic broad scale habitats

Examples:

Link with indicator/key habitats / habitat forming species / essential fish habitats

Link to human activities when possible

Biogeographic boundaries/ ecological relevant managment units

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Criteria - cross-cutting challenges I/III

Key Message I: Achieve a common and harmonised

approach across legal obligations

- Harmonise across Community legislation (Habitats

Directive, Birds Directive, Water Framework Directive,

Marine Strategy Framework Directive)

- Regional Sea Conventions (BSAP)

- EU´s Common Fisheries Policy (essential fish habitats?)- EU´s Maritime Policy (European Atlas of the Seas)

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Criteria - cross-cutting challenges II/III

Key Message II: Common and harmonised approach to methodology

-Share information across boundaries

-Harmonisation of basic mapping input (e.g. sediment)

-Hierarchical classification system (use EUNIS classes?)

-Do we need several mapping approaches and why?

-Merge sectoral efforts e.g how to merge mapping of ”nature” habitats with essential fish habitats?

-Leave no part of the marine ecosystem unmapped!

-Better to have coherent maps with full spatial coverage rather than many partial unharmonised efforts…24/28

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Application – Inform multiple uses

An example from the Danish EEZ:

Targetting specific landscapes e.g. >50% of ”Non-photic sand at 7,5-11psu”

68 sites for aggregate extraction (~187km2)

13 sites for off-shore windfarms (~366km2)

Environmental pressures e.g. oxygen depletion

68% of these human activities are in areas with no oxygen depletion

Inform management efforts e.g. MSP

Criteria - cross-cutting challenges III/III

Key Message III: Demonstrate the potential uses of habitat maps in a multiple use context

-Identify the amount / distribution of a habitat within a sub-division, sub-region and marine region

-Identify the amount of pressures occuring on it

-Identify its sensitivity to the pressure(s) = priority habitats

-Identify the confidence of the map to help future prioritisation of efforts

-Help identify environmental targets and indicators based on habitat maps

-Demonstrate the application and meet official deadlines (description of GES, current and future status)!

-Habitat maps enable a direct comparison with those human activities / pressures, which have a spatial influence!26/28

Coorperation and common understanding…

HSD VRD HD

SENO

DK

DHI DMU BLSTDTU

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Thank you…

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Conclusion

- Opnå ensartet forståelse - definere terminologi- Definition og identifikation af indikatorer ved at anvende

rammen fastsat af direktivet- Indikatorerne bør være informative om miljøtilstand og gerne

omkostningseffektive- Gerne en kobling til belastning(-erne)

- Målfastsættelse i forhold til en given påvirkning på en given

økosystemet komponent (fx eutrofiering på invertebrater):– definere den acceptable påvirkning indenfor en marine

region, eventuelt et delområde- Kobling og harmonisering til eksisterende mål (hvor muligt)

Deskriptorerne - generelt

- Opnå ensartet forståelse - definere terminologi- Definition og identifikation af indikatorer ved at anvende

rammen fastsat af direktivet- Indikatorerne bør være informative om miljøtilstand og gerne

omkostningseffektive- Gerne en kobling til belastning(-erne)

- Målfastsættelse i forhold til en given påvirkning på en given

økosystemet komponent (fx eutrofiering på invertebrater):– definere den acceptable påvirkning indenfor en marine

region, eventuelt et delområde- Kobling og harmonisering til eksisterende mål (hvor muligt)

Elementer i en status evaluering…

17 characteristics- Nutrients- Oxygen- Contaminants- Phytoplankton- Zooplankton- Marine mammals- Birds- Fish- etc.18 Pressures &

Impacts- Fisheries- Nutrient input- Noise- Litter- Physical damage- Etc.

D1 Biodiversitet

D4 Food webs

D6 Seafloor integrity

D2 Non-indigenous species

D3 Fisheries

D5 Eutrophication

D7 Hydrographic Conditions

D8 Contaminants

D9 Contaminants in seafood

D10 Litter

D11 Energy

3 descriptors of ecological quality

8 descriptors of

anthropogenic

pressures

”Screws” to

obtain GES

GES

MSFD – a playground for R&D

11 descriptors and 80+ criteria to be handled in regard to:

1. Definition of Good Environmental Status- Can the deskriptors be prioritised and how?- How can the descriptors and their criteria be merged into a

holistic assessment of the marine ecosystem?

2. Pressures and impacts - How does different pressures impact on various

environmental components?- How to handle?

3. Målfastsættelse

- How do we make the targets concrete?

- How do we harmonise different or even conflicting targets?

Overvågning, tilstandsvurdering & nyudvikling

11 deskriptorer og ukendt antal miljøbelastninger som skal

håndteres i forhold til:

1. Overvågning- Respect the needs of the user (deadlines and legal framework)- Demonstrate your understanding!

2. Status evaluering- Forvaltningsredskaber- Eksisterende vs. ny indsats?

3. Forskning

- Nyudvikling (EU forskningsfonde)

- Kan BLST og DMU hjælpe hinanden?