1. Marine Environment and Water Industry
Marine Strategy Framework Directive: issues related to ecosystems and their services
European Commission
DG Environment Unit C.2
Marine Environment and Water Industry
Workshop: Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) in the marine environment
19 June 2013, Brussels

2. Outline MSFD – a brief introduction
What can MSFD bring to the MAES process?
Where can MAES make a difference?

3. The Marine Strategy Framework Directive EU’s legal instrument for the protection of our seas
Overall objective: achieve or maintain Good Environmental Status (GES) of all EU marine waters by 2020.
Adoption of an ecosystem-based and integrated approach to the management of all human activities which have an impact on the marine environment.
Overarching Goal:
Achieve GES of EU Marine Waters by 2020
Protected
Ecosystems
 Clean, healthy, productive seas
Sustainable Uses
of Europe’s marine resources
Common
Approaches
 Cooperation at the EU and regional level
Regional approach to implementation, through establishment of Marine Regions and Sub-regions
Achieving GES should enable sustainable use of marine goods and services 3

4. Implementation Steps GES 2020 Main steps of a Marine Strategy:
Initial assessment (IA) of current environmental status of MS waters
Determination of GES
Establishment of environmental targets and associated indicators
Monitoring programme for ongoing assessment and regular updating of targets
Programme of measures to achieve or maintain GES
Review of the different steps
Main steps of a Marine Strategy:
Initial Assessment, determine GES, set targets
2012
(+ 6 years)
Monitoring Programmes
2014
Programmes of Measures
2015
Implementation of measures
2016
Six-year review
2018 – 2021
GES
2020

5. Regional approach/coordination
MSFD regions and subregions
Draft map: October 2012
GES is determined at Region or Subregion level (Art. 3.5)
Coherent, coordinated and common approaches (Art. 5.2)
Achieved through Regional Sea Conventions (Art. 6) & Common Implementation Strategy (CIS)

6. What is GES? GES definition (Art. 3.5)
Ecologically diverse and dynamic seas which are clean, healthy and productive
Use of environment is at a sustainable level
Fully functioning and resilient ecosystem
Biodiversity decline is prevented, biodiversity is in balance and protected
Hydro-morphological, physical and chemical state support above
No pollution effects

7. What is GES? – Annex I Descriptors
No.
Topic 1
Biological diversity 2
Non-indigenous species 3
Commercial fish & shellfish 4
Food-webs 5
Eutrophication 6
Sea-floor integrity 7
Hydrography 8
Contaminants 9
Contaminants in seafood 10
Litter 11
Energy, incl. underwater noise

8. 2012 reporting requirements
Article 8 – Initial assessment of MS marine waters
Characteristics and status of MS marine waters, based on Annex III, Table 1
Analysis of pressures and impacts, based on Annex III, Table 2
An economic & social analysis, and cost of degradation
Article 9 - Determination of GES
Based on GES Descriptors (Annex I) and GES criteria (Decision 2010)
Article 10 – Series of environmental targets and associated indicators

9. Reporting status
By June 2013, 20 MS have reported on Articles 8, 9 and 10
17 MS reported both paper report and reporting sheets – information available on EEA CDR:
The reporting shows the huge amount of work that went into preparing these reports in Member States
Most recent information on state of marine environment, its pressures and its uses
Based on existing assessments or on new assessments
New data collation and processing e.g. mapping of pressures and activities (e.g. Harmony project for eastern North Sea)
A vast amount of quantitative and qualitative information on the State of European Seas is gathered
Comparability of good environmental status, of data and an overall lack of coherence make this information difficult to interpret

10. Initial Assessment
Litter
Contaminants
Hydrography

11. Assessing pressures & impacts
Key MSFD requirements:
To assess scale and levels of impact from pressures
To assess status of predominant habitat types of water column and seabed
To determine GES at level of region or subregion
Major new challenges for Member States at this scale
Mapping and modelling are important

12. HELCOM Baltic Sea pressure index
Regional Sea Convention processes to develop common indicators and assessments
HELCOM Baltic Sea pressure index

13. Baltic Sea predominant habitat types

14. Extent of all benthic habitats impacted by anthropogenic pressures in circalittoral zone
Red=high impact
Green=low impact
Extent of habitat type km2
Broad habitat type

15. Predominant habitat types
MSFD predominant habitat typology
Predominant habitat types
Substrate
Rock
Sediment
Zone
incl. mixed hard substrata, biogenic reefs
Coarse
Sand
Mud
Mixed sediment
Littoral
Sublittoral - shallow
Sublittoral - shelf
Bathyal – upper
Bathyal - lower
Abyssal
Water column
Marine –
Coastal
Marine – shelf
Marine -
Oceanic
Zone boundary (approx. m) 50
200
1100
2700
Provisional set proposed by TG1
MAES draft ‘ecosystem’ typology – very broad categories
Seabed + water column
Equates directly with MSFD predominant habitats 18

16. MAES marine ecosystem typology
inlets
Coastal
Shelf
50-70m
Open ocean/
deep sea
200m
5000m

17. MAES marine ecosystem typologyMm
MAES marine ecosystem typology
Marine inlets
Estuary
Coastal
Shelf
Embayment
Open ocean/deep sea
Fjord
Lagoon

18. Next phases for MSFD Monitoring programmes in 2014
Programme of measures by 2015
Key focus on reductions in pressures from human activities to reduce environmental impacts and thus achieve GES

19. MAES and MSFD Challenges: Where can MAES demonstrate:
Definition of GES is unclear
Actions needed to achieve GES are unclear
Industries may see achieving GES as a ‘burden’ rather than a benefit
Where can MAES demonstrate:
That achieving GES is important to ecosystem structure and functioning?
This, in turn, is important to delivery of ecosystem services (goods and services)
Where can MAES demonstrate benefits of a good environmental status?

20. Thank you for your attention
Thank you for your attention