Category Archives: OSPAR
Assessing the state of marine biodiversity in the Northeast Atlantic – for the first time, ever!
A paper has recently come out that I’m really, really proud of. As you might (or might not!) know, the EU countries are committed to achieving Good Environmental Status (GES) in their marine waters under the EU Marine Strategy Framework … Continue reading
Plankton Highlights 2020
It’s been a busy year in plankton science for policy in the UK and OSPAR. Much of our work focused on further developing our ability to assess the state of pelagic habitats through the Improving Confidence Evaluating GES for Regional … Continue reading
Posted in Knowledge Exchange, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, Policy
Tagged ICEGRAPH, marine policy, Plankton, policy
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Putting the science in science-policy
Achieving Good Environmental Status most definitely requires science-policy collaboration. At the OSPAR level, for marine biodiversity, this collaboration happens through ICG-COBAM (the Intersessional Correspondence Group on Coordinated Biodiversity Assessment and Monitoring). Our delivery of the 2017 Intermediate Assessment, the first … Continue reading
Posted in Knowledge Exchange, Marine Conservation, MSFD, OSPAR
Tagged knowledge exchange, Marine Conservation, marine policy, MSFD, OSPAR, policy, policy makers
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Assessing pelagic habitats: Changes in plankton diversity
EU Member States are required to assess the Good Environmental Status (GES) of their pelagic habitats under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). OSPAR has coordinated this process in the Northeast Atlantic, supporting the development of a suite of three … Continue reading
Posted in Knowledge Exchange, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, Policy, Uncategorized
Tagged conservation, Marine Conservation, marine policy, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, policy, policy makers
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Using plankton lifeforms to assess the state of the pelagic habitat
Change in plankton communities can affect the functioning of marine ecosystems. Plankton play a critical role in global oxygen production (one out of every two breaths we take was produced by phytoplankton!), are integral to nutrient and carbon cycling, and … Continue reading
Posted in Knowledge Exchange, Marine Conservation, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, Policy, Uncategorized
Tagged conservation, Indicators, knowledge exchange, Marine Conservation, marine policy, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, policy, policy makers
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Increasing Confidence in Evaluating GES for Regional Assessments of Pelagic Habitats – ICEGRAPH
We’ve just had a new project funded! ICEGRAPH: Increasing Confidence in Evaluating GES for Regional Assessments of Pelagic Habitats is a £190,000 project funded by EMFF/MMO to fill some of the scientific gaps around assessing state and understanding change in pelagic … Continue reading
Posted in biodiversity, Indicators, Marine Conservation, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, Policy, Uncategorized
Tagged biodiversity, conservation, Indicators, knowledge exchange, Marine Conservation, marine policy, MSFD, Plankton, policy, policy makers
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Can Northeast Atlantic pelagic habitat indicators be applied to the Arctic?
Northeast Atlantic marine waters have a long history of collaborative management, with OSPAR the cooperative mechanism for marine environmental management in the Northeast Atlantic. OSPAR is collaboratively implementing ecosystem-based management in this region to meet the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive … Continue reading
Posted in biodiversity, Indicators, Marine Conservation, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, Policy, students, Uncategorized
Tagged biodiversity, conservation, Indicators, knowledge exchange, Marine Conservation, marine policy, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, policy, policy makers, students
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Plankton as ‘prevailing conditions’
Plankton make useful indicators for large scale environmental change in our oceans. Firstly, they are very sensitive and responsive to changes in their environment, so changes in plankton ‘reflect’ wider climatic and oceanographic processes. Secondly, as the base of the … Continue reading
IMCC Symposium session: From science to evidence – innovative uses of biodiversity indicators for effective marine policy and conservation
The International Marine Conservation Congress will be held in June 2018 in Kuching, Malaysia. My colleagues Ian Mitchell (JNCC), Saskia Otto (University of Hamburg), and I will be co-convening the below session. If you are interested in speaking, please send … Continue reading
Posted in biodiversity, Indicators, Knowledge Exchange, Marine Conservation, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, Policy
Tagged biodiversity, conservation, Indicators, knowledge exchange, marine policy, policy
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Priorities for the marine environment after Brexit – a biodiversity perspective
Marine biodiversity has gotten lost in the talk about what Brexit means for the UK. While some attention has been paid to commercial fisheries, including a recently-launched Parliamentary inquiry, the post-Brexit future of UK marine habitats and species has received … Continue reading
Posted in biodiversity, Brexit, Fisheries, Indicators, Knowledge Exchange, Marine Conservation, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, Policy, Uncategorized
Tagged biodiversity, Brexit, conservation, knowledge exchange, Marine Conservation, marine policy, MSFD, OSPAR, Plankton, policy, policy makers
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Plankton and Policy 