Impact case study database

Coastal nations around the world face the challenge of historic misuse of their seas and the consequences of climate change on the oceans. We have worked directly with government agencies and stakeholders to develop practices to manage marine resources in a more sustainable way. These practices have been internalised by organisations which are now carrying them forward in the implementation of national and international policy. This is producing material outcomes in four marine areas: the Irish Sea, the North Sea, the Northeast Atlantic and South Africa’s seas. We have changed the way that agencies and stakeholders act, specifically under two themes.

4.1 Mobilisation of Stakeholders in the Governance of the Irish Sea

Good marine ecosystem-based management needs effective communication between government and stakeholders, ensuring knowledge transfer and better implementation of policy. We have brought stakeholders into the heart of governance of the Irish Sea in two areas of work.

4.1.a Stakeholder-informed Marine Conservation Zones

A programme for designating Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in English waters began in 03/2010 to protect habitats and species that are important, rare or under threat (under Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009). Regional stakeholder groups were tasked with proposing MCZs.

Kidd was brought in as independent chair of the Irish Sea Conservation Zones board (03/2010-04/2012), leveraging her knowledge from project work ( NAMEME and MSPIrishSea) and expertise in stakeholder-led approaches (3.1). As noted by a water management company Director (5.1.a), “Without Sue’s oversight… the Project would have suffered delays in delivery and a lower overall quality of recommendations”. Stakeholders (such as offshore renewables, fishing, shipping, recreation and conservation) were “reminded of their obligation to work together, focusing on their common vision rather than their own individual interests”.

These pre-2014 activities provided the essential capacity for subsequent impact. Crucially, the board recommended 15 MCZs, of which 10, covering 1,309km², were finally designated in 2019 (5.2.a, 5.2.b), and for which management measures are now being put in place. For example, the Cumbria Coast MCZ stretches along 27km, protecting 8 key features, including honeycomb worm reefs and rocky habitats; it includes England’s only breeding colony of black guillemots which are now protected from fishing nets during the nesting season thanks to a voluntary netting ban brought in as an MCZ measure (5.2.c).

4.1.b Irish Sea Maritime Forum

As a result of MSPIrishSea (3.2) , Kidd led the formation of the Irish Sea Maritime Forum (ISMF) in 06/2012 (5.3.a). This is a partnership of government agencies, industry, and environmental stakeholders from across all six Irish Sea jurisdictions. A Science Advisor of Historic England testifies (5.3.d), “The Irish Sea Maritime Forum exists due to Sue’s initiative, vision, and leadership skills. Its successes are largely due to her ability to encourage stakeholders to work together”. The Manger of the NW Coastal Forum states (5.3.c), “One of the key … benefits of the Forum includes building stronger networks between Irish Sea users.” Its importance is reflected in high-level political support; its current chair is a former Irish Senator (5.3.e). This has provided the platform for subsequent impact.

A 2018 stakeholder review demonstrated that ISMF provides the institutional structure needed to facilitate cooperative management of the Irish sea’s resources: “The Irish Sea is a natural unit… There is a clear need for transboundary cooperation which is met by the ISMF” (5.4.a).

Activities between 01/2014 and 02/2020, including well-attended conferences and stakeholder events (5.3.b), have benefitted members as revealed through a survey, for example (5.4.c):

• “Keeping up to date with all new development” (Northern Ireland Government)

• “Continued cooperation and understanding of issues/opportunities” (UK Agency)

• “Build capacity to respond to transnational issues” (Fisheries industry)

• “Having a wide range of stakeholders allows for better outcomes” (Planning Authority)

A former Liverpool Councillor states “decision makers, including myself, had our views changed and now, wind energy in the Irish Sea is a significant and growing economic and environmental benefit” (5.4.e).

In addition to these governance changes, impacts include: securing funding worth over €8 million for projects supporting EU Directives for environmental quality and marine planning; Blue Growth Prospectus for the Irish Sea Region 2015 setting out opportunities for shipping, blue energy, fisheries, blue biotechnology and tourism (5.4.b); and the Ireland-Wales Interreg project Ecostructure that developed concepts for multi-functional natural and hard sea defences (5.4.d).

4.2 Application of Tools for Implementing National and Regional Marine Legislation

Marine ecosystem-based management needs practical approaches that can be used to implement policy and legislation effectively. We have developed tools to enable national agencies to manage their marine resources in the context of two legislative frameworks: the EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive and South Africa’s Marine Spatial Planning Act.

4.2.a Marine Management Strategies in the Netherlands, Ireland and beyond

The EU’s 2008 Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) aims to address the deteriorating environmental conditions of European seas, requiring coastal Member States to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) of their marine waters by 2020. However, there was no clear approach for reaching this target. Robinson led the ODEMM project that produced a pressure assessment tool (3.3, 3.4) which enables decision makers to identify the key human pressures acting on their marine ecosystems and to select the best measures for achieving GES (5.5.a,).

Government agencies have now applied this tool to advise governments in Ireland and the Netherlands. It was adopted in 2014 in Ireland to assess the threats to marine environmental status. This was the “first application of the ODEMM framework… completed for Ireland’s marine waters” (5.6.b). The findings were used to advise the Irish government on the selection of management measures which since 2018 have now been used to achieve recovery of Irish marine ecosystems. A Principal Investigator for Ireland’s Marine Institute confirms, “We have carried this out using the assessment approach …developed by Dr Robinson” (5.6.a).

In the Netherlands, the tool has been adapted to underpin selection of management measures in 2018-20 which are now being used to achieve the GES objectives across Dutch marine waters and the broader North Sea. The Dutch principal Investigator on marine ecosystem-based management states, “The risk-based pressure assessment approach developed by Dr Robinson’s team is a really significant contribution to the field because it allows managers the ability to weigh up different options for sustainable use of marine ecosystems. Without this, single-sector based approaches miss the significant effects of multiple pressures acting on marine species and habitats” (5.6.c).

The tool has also been used by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), an intergovernmental marine science organisation for the Northeast Atlantic (5.7a). The ODEMM tool is now a key part of the technical guidance for the ICES Ecosystem Overviews (5.7b), the first set of which were published in 2019-20 and have affected decisions on ecosystem-based management across the region over this time-frame. The ICES Chair testifies, “Leonie’s work in the field of ecosystem-based marine management has made a very significant contribution to the field both in Europe and across the broader Atlantic region” (5.6a).

4.2.b Marine Spatial Planning in South Africa

Marine spatial planning (MSP) has been introduced by many coastal nations to provide an integrated approach to regulated marine industries; it is now central to marine policy and practice in Europe. MSP was identified as a national priority in 2014 in South Africa, to help manage its extensive and internationally significant marine waters straddling the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, with great ecological diversity and social and economic importance.

Following his leadership of MSP projects and his international reputation (3.5, 3.6), Jay was invited onto South Africa’s National Working Group tasked with producing the National Framework for Marine Spatial Planning, 09/2015-03/2016. He was the sole academic in the group, working alongside representatives of government departments. Jay led on the practical section of the Framework, setting out the steps and timeline to be followed by the government department now responsible for MSP in South Africa. He encouraged the adaptation of MSP to the South African context, such as MSP being a tool for redressing historic racial injustices.

The Framework was approved by the Minister of Environmental Affairs in 05/2017 (5.8.b). It is cross-referenced in South Africa’s Marine Spatial Planning Act 05/2018 (5.8.c). Jay’s involvement was coordinated by the German agency for international cooperation who provided logistical support to the process, and described him as having a “significant role” and “an important role in developing the procedural aspects of the Framework” (5.8.a).

The initial stages of the Framework are now being carried out (5.8.d). Firstly, a data portal has been developed that gathers, and makes publicly available, digital data on a wide range of marine characteristics and human activities, providing the evidence base for the marine plans (5.9.a). Secondly, four bioregional Marine Planning Areas have been designated. Work is now beginning on the first of these, the Eastern Cape region. Jay continues to support this process. A Director at the Dept of Environment, Forestry & Fisheries confirms that Jay is “currently facilitating international exchange… between government agencies responsible for marine spatial planning in the Global South” (5.9.b).