News and Events
The July 2018 Newsletter of the IGU CCS has been released and ready to read!
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The CCS Newsletter is issued twice a year and highlights the activities of the Commission on Coastal Systems (CCS) to the International Geographical Union (IGU) and its members from around the globe. Copies of the Newsletter and announcements are on the CCS website: http://www.igu-ccs.org/.
The July 2018 CCS Newsletter can be read also here!
Systematic, connected: building the future of Europe’s marine protection
BLUE CONNECT is creating a blueprint to guide science-based protection, co-management and monitoring of Europe’s seas
Europe has set ambitious targets for protecting its marine environment, but progress reveals a significant gap. Only 13.7% of EU seas are protected, and just 0.03% are strictly protected – far below the EU Biodiversity Strategy’s 2030 goals of 30% and 10%, respectively. Meeting these targets requires not only designating new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) but also strengthening existing ones and ensuring they form an effective, connected network.
BLUE CONNECT, a Horizon Europe Mission Ocean project, supports Europe in closing this gap. It promotes a comprehensive, science-driven and inclusive approach to expanding existing or designating new MPAs, shifting to strict protection, enhancing ecological connectivity, and facilitating co-management with local stakeholders. The project aligns with Mission Ocean and Waters objectives, providing Europe with tools to meet its 2030 protection and restoration commitments.
A science-driven blueprint
BLUE CONNECT aims to develop and implement a systematic approach to effective marine conservation. Central to this approach is a holistic modelling framework that considers biodiversity, ecological functioning, ecosystem services and connectivity aspects as well as socio-economic and cultural interests.
Read more: Systematic, connected: building the future of Europe’s marine protection
EEA Report No 3/2018 published
This report provides an evaluation on how the growing knowledge on adaptation in Europe has been captured and how it is presented on the web-based European Climate Adaptation Platform (Climate-ADAPT) and shared across Europe.
BLUE CONNECT joined the #30DayMapChallenge with a Burgas Bay (Black Sea)-themed map
As part of this year’s #30DayMapChallenge, the BLUE CONNECT Project has highlighted one of its 12 Demonstration Sites - Burgas Bay, Black Sea and its marine biodiversity with a new map demonstrating the spatial overlap between fishing activities and the Black Sea bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) in the Bulgarian sea waters. The 30 day map challenge is a yearly event each November in which participants aim to make a different map every day according to a set of themes and share them on social media with the hashtag #30DayMapChallenge.
Created by our colleague Lawrence Whatley from VLIZ, the map visualises areas where trawling and set gillnet fishing – identified as key pressures – intersect with recorded sightings of bottlenose dolphins. In Burgas Bay, marine mammals including the Black Sea bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops Truncatus) have been identified as important ecological subjects, and fishing, particularly trawling and gillnet fishing, as a significant pressure. By overlaying data from GBIF: The Global Biodiversity Information Facility and Global Fishing Watch, the hot spot areas of impact are visualized to help inform conservation and restoration measures. The map shows sightings of bottlenose dolphins and areas where at least 5 hours of set gillnet fishing and/or 20 hours of trawling have happened in the last year.
Read more: BLUE CONNECT joined the #30DayMapChallenge with a Burgas Bay (Black Sea)-themed map