The MPA Europe team were delighted to participate in the third Natura 2000 Biogeographical Seminar for the Baltic marine region in Riga from 8th-10th November. Hosted jointly by the European Commission’s DG Environment and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Republic of Latvia, the conference was well attended by national representatives, institutes and organisations from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden. Member states discussed their approaches and pledges towards national Marine Protected Areas (MPA) and conservation status targets, aligned to the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.  Breakout discussions focused on the role of Natura 2000 sites and other MPA in marine restoration; how to interpret and implement strict protection in the Baltic marine region; and how to balance the growing needs of offshore renewable energy and marine conservation.

With less than 1% of European seas under strict protection, a key challenge across European seas is where to protectso as to achieve coherent regional networks of MPA that can deliver maximum benefits for biodiversity and society. Anna Maria Addamo and Belinda Bramley presented the goals, approaches, and activities of the MPA Europe project, which is mapping the optimal locations for MPA in European seas, based on systematic conservation planning drawing from European and global marine biodiversity datasets. Our project is mapping a coherent (representative, connected, and adequate) network of MPA under different climate change scenarios and will also support the integration of our results into marine spatial planning, a critical tool to effectively balance different needs for MPA, renewable energy, fisheries and other sectors, including through multiuse approaches.

During the seminar we enjoyed the opportunity to informally explore with stakeholders how our project deliverables can support ongoing activities at both national and regional levels, such as providing modelled data for key habitats and species under different climate change scenarios to support both national MPA designation processes and related projects, and regional initiatives such as PROTECT BALTIC.

Further details on the Natura 2000 biogeographical process and seminars for this region may be found here.