The MPA Europe team were delighted to present at the 3rd Natura 2000 Biogeographical Seminar for the Atlantic and Macaronesian marine regions, held in Dublin, October 11–13, 2023. The event was hosted jointly by the European Commission’s DG Environment and Ireland’s National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. National representatives from France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, and Sweden convened to discuss their approaches and pledges towards marine protected areas (MPAs) targets and conservation status targets aligned to the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. Areas of discussion also included the role of Natura 2000 sites and other MPAs in marine restoration; strict protection in the Atlantic and Macaronesian marine region; and renewable energy and marine conservation.

During the opening addresses from the European Commission team we heard that, with less than 1% of European seas under strict protection, a key challenge at the European level is where to protect, to achieve coherent regional networks of MPA that can deliver maximum benefits for biodiversity and society. Anna Maria Addamo presented the goals, approaches, and activities of the MPA Europe project, which sets out to map the optimal locations for MPAs in European seas, based on systematic conservation planning. Our project will map a coherent (representative, connected, and adequate) network of protected areas and also support the integration of science into marine spatial planning (MSP), a critical tool to effectively balance different needs for MPAs, renewable energy, fisheries and other sectors, including through multi-use approaches.

During the seminar we enjoyed the opportunity to informally explore with stakeholders how the project deliverables can support ongoing activities at both national and regional levels, such as filling data gaps for key habitats and species or overlaying project results with human activity layers for national MSP processes. We also called for stakeholders in the Macaronesian region to provide blue carbon data towards the Euro-Carbon database under development as part of the project.

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