Last week the MPA Europe team hosted a regional workshop for stakeholders of the Black Sea region in Varna, Bulgaria, in collaboration with the MSP-GREEN and MSP4Bio projects. A one-day hybrid event was hosted by the MSP-GREEN project team and all three Horizon Europe projects shared their results with stakeholders, for reflection and discussion. We were joined by stakeholders from various countries representing national authorities, regional sea organisations, academic institutes, NGOs, and others.

During the workshop,  we presented the goals and approaches of the MPA Europe project and our results to date. These include the first marine ecosystem classification of Europe’s waters, from sea surface to near seabed, which confirms that the Black Sea forms a unique cluster in Europe in terms of its deepwater anoxic environment. We also presented our species distribution models and discussed how for some species the impacts of climate change on their overall ranges may be quite limited. Lastly, we shared the results of our work on compiling a new database of blue carbon sediments by habitat types across Europe and revealed our new blue carbon map for Europe’s seabed. This shows high levels of sedimentary blue carbon for the seabed of the Black Sea, which can be attributed to its uniquely anoxic conditions at depth.

We then invited stakeholders to share their questions, comments and proposals on the following three areas:

• How can the results from MPA Europe support science-based marine spatial planning, at national, trans-boundary or regional scales?
• How can our results strengthen existing marine protected areas?
• How can our results support extending networks of existing marine protected areas?

The project’s focus on biodiversity was welcomed by stakeholders and various ideas were shared and discussed among the group. We clarified that our modelling framework can be used and adapted freely by stakeholders, to incorporate local datasets for instance, to support in identifying areas for 10% strict protection. We are currently working on a tool to make these models readily available.

We’re currently condensing the results of these discussions into a short report of the workshop. This report will be shared with all participants and other stakeholders from the Black Sea region that are engaging with our project and provide insights for our Policy Brief next year. We are also identifying areas where MPA Europe’s work can support new recommendations from the MSP-GREEN project for how marine spatial planning can support the European Green Deal and Blue Economy.

We would like to thank all those who attended our workshop and kindly offered their ideas. We would also like to express our deep appreciation to the MSP-GREEN team for kindly coordinating this one-day event in collaboration with us, for supporting stakeholders interested in delivering more and better protection for the Black Sea as part of science-based marine spatial planning in the years to come.