MARINE PROTECTED AREAS IN THE ATLANTIC ARC Towards a new network : The main results, the main issues Olivier Musard, Brussels, 06/11/2012 Agence des aires marines protégées

MAIA – A European cooperation project MAIA aims are: Promoting and structuring the sharing of experience and approaches; Elaborating common methodologies; Contributing to the emergence of a network of MPA managers and stakeholders. A 3-years Project: January 2010 - December 2012

Interreg IV B Atlantic Area programme MAIA - Funding MAIA is co financed by the: Interreg IV B Atlantic Area programme Priority 2: “Protect, secure and enhance the marine and coastal environment sustainability” Objective 2.2: “Sustainable protection and management of marine areas and resources” Total budget for 3 years / 9 partners: 3 032 604 € Including: 65 % ERDF European Regional Development Fund 35 % co-funding by the 9 partners

MAIA – A European cooperation project MAIA gathers 9 partners from 4 countries: United Kingdom France Spain Portugal involved in MPAs designation and management. An interesting and global overlay from North to South From Shetland to Azores...

MAIA – Action Plan www.maia-network.org A dedicated portal including: - a GIS database supplying the geo-portal and the dynamic editorial pages - a document database - a private collaborative space Documents ressources Field studies Overview reports Guidelines Proceedings Thematic documents A common Collaborative space Open to any MPA manager in the Atlantic arc

Focus on the GIS data base MPA datasheet An overview of : the history of the MPA’s designations on the atlantic arc the management of those MPA’s => Key figures to synthesize the overall information : the oldest, the larger,… For the very first time, this database provides a comprehensive understanding on the overlap issues : nature of designations, nature of perimeters => Overall view of the issues and the management of the territory

Focus on the GIS data base To date : 451 MPAs in the database The MAIA network does not interact with the flow of official data; it only uses the data provided by the national focus points (organisations in charge of collecting and disseminating protected-area data on a European and international scale)

MAIA – Action Plan Technical workshops on management issues common to the MPAs of the Atlantic arc: 2012: “Tools for MPA Governance: Management Plans” 2011: “Involving the stakeholders in MPA designation and management processes” 2010: “Establishing indicators in the MPAs, monitoring strategies” These workshops bring together many stakeholders involved in MPA designation and management such as: managers, scientists and sea users such as fishermen. Specific workshops organized by JNCC and dedicated to fisheries measures within English Natura 2000 sites : Haig Fras and Stanton Bank Fishermen and fisheries representatives carrying out activities in the area of the sites, members of the MAIA project, UK government regulatory and management bodies and members of JNCC.

MAIA – Next steps . 1st Conference of the Atlantic arc MPAs Network – December 2012, 3rd/6th The MAIA project was a great experience to enhance the comprehensiveness of the MPAs issues over the Atlantic area and to create a network... A new network is born... So what ? Has the job been done? What can we expect for the future and from this network Main thematic for : the first day : MAIA achievements and role in the political context of the Atlantic Arc the 2nd day : Improve cooperation to promote the deployment of a well-managed MPA network in the Atlantic arc . A study on the OSPAR database and MAIA database - 2013 To compare and promote an interaction between those two databases in order to share, secure and facilitate the flow of information on MPAs reporting effort on the OSPAR Network of MPAs => Next ICG-MPA : main results of this comparison

Thank you for your attention A new network has been set up, we don’t need to feed it, we just need to reinforce it and use it ! Agence des aires marines protégées Olivier Musard On behalf of : Amandine Eynaudi & Phénia Marras – Aït Razouk MAIA Coordination Team maia@aires-marines.fr Thank you for your attention