Sensitivity and Habitat Mapping: Project Workshop<< News Index
<< Part of Newsletter 3
15 February 2006
On 23rd January 2006, the MSUO arranged a meeting of project representatives to discuss the use of Sensitivity and Habitat Mapping by Interreg Projects. The meeting was hosted by the Interreg IIIB Northern Periphery Programme Secretariat in Copenhagen. Each of the projects provided a presentation to describe their work:
HABitat MAPping (HABMAP): Interreg IIIA project between Wales (UK) and Ireland. The aim of the project is to produce seabed habitat maps for the southern Irish Sea (Arklow Bank, Celtic Deep and Caernarfon Bay) and to develop a model that will predict seabed habitats and ecosystems from physical data.
Further information:
Safety at Sea (S@S): Interreg IIIB North Sea Programme Project which aims to reduce the probability and impact of incidents and accidents in the North Sea. The project is organised into five parts or “Strands”. These are: Harmonisation of Risk Management Strategies, Routing and Safe Seaways, Coastal Zone Management, Risk Assessment & Decision and Project Management & Technical Assistance. All parts of the project utilise Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
Further information:
 SensMaps: The project identifies Marine Sensitive Areas in the Netherlands. It is linked to the S@S project (see above) The aim of the project is to provide maps that provide operational advice during marine pollution incidents and for use in the evaluation of policy. The maps will support transparent and unambiguous decision making at the national and international level. Further Information:
OILECO: The project links ecological values into oil accident risk analysis. It is an Interreg IIIA project being undertaken in the Gulf of Finland. The aim of OILECO is: to gather information on nature values, develop a sensitivity map to aid decision makers during an oil spill, use ecological data to justify investment in preventative measures and to build a Bays Model for assessing the effects of an oil spill on key species. The meeting discussed the possibility of linking the information from the OILECO project to the crisis management simulators developed by the SUMMERI I and II Interreg IIIA projects.
Further information:
 Mapping European Seabed Habitats (MESH): MESH is an Interreg IIIB North West Europe Project between Ireland, UK, Belgium, Netherlands and France. The project will: Collate & harmonise existing habitat maps, develop and test standards & protocols, develop predictive mapping tools, undertake case studies on use of maps and communicate and disseminate information. The project includes an online metadata catalogue for the five countries involved. Further information:
Combined Functions in Coastal Zones (ComCoast): ComCoast is an Interreg IIIB North Sea Programme project between Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and UK. The purpose of the project is to implement Multifunctional Coastal Defence Zones (MCDZ) that take account of sensitive areas and activities for use in such actions as identification of suitable off-shore wind energy areas and marine pollution contingency plans. GIS is used to provide a database of geographical sensitivities and activities. The GIS is linked to the NOKIS national meta-data network for the North and Baltic Sea Coastal Information System.
Further information:
Emergency Response to Coastal Oil, Chemical and Inert Pollution from Ships (EROCIPS): EROCIPS is an Interreg IIIB Project within the Atlantic Area Programme. Part of the project is developing sensitivity mapping for areas of the coasts of France, Spain, Portugal and UK. The maps will be used to advise decision makers during maritime pollution incidents. The presentation also outlined the Baywatching sub project being led by Devon Wildlife Trust. This seeks to involve maritime stakeholders in spatial management of the Lyme Bay area of South West UK.
Further information:
Discussions
The project representatives discussed how the data from their projects could be used to provide information to ocean spatial planning and maritime safety initiatives. It was agreed that there was a need to provide a common web based framework for projects to freely publish and disseminate information, possibly as part of the MSUO. The data being produced by projects is specifically of relevance to certain uses (fisheries, maritime safety, ICZM, etc.). In future, there could be scope to develop multi-use data under projects for the next programme, so that data could be widely used by ocean, spatial planning, risk prevention, water management and ICZM projects.
The representatives identified a number of existing mapping methodologies such as MEHRA (UK), ESI (USA), OILECO (Finland), MARLIN (UK), etc. There may be a need to ensure the development of common terminology for use across the EU and partner countries to aid understanding. However, the representatives also recognised that different locations may require different mapping methodologies, for example what works well in the Baltic may not be applicable to the Mediterranean.
Further Work on the Issue
The MSUO has identified habitat and sensitivity mapping as a priority area for assisting the development of contingency plans and Places of Refuge. Good maps and GIS data can greatly assist decision-makers during maritime incidents in identifying sensitive areas that require protection or appropriate sites for salvage operations to take place.
The MSUO will consider developing a Project to Project Co-operation initiative which can disseminate information between mapping projects and develop a tool box of techniques that can be used by future projects under the next transnational programme (2007-2013). The MSUO would welcome project proposals from organisations that wish to take these issues forward under the next transnational programme. |
