Marine Biodiversity Networking Friday on Marine Protected Areas for Europe: systematic planning and dispelling myths
On April 17, 2026, from 1:00 to 2:00 PM UTC+0, we will host a special session with Dr Mark Costello focusing on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The session will highlight findings from the MPA Europe project, which designed a network that is representative of all species, climate resilient and ecologically coherent. The project shows that protecting 10 % and 30 % of European and adjacent seas could include 55 % and 79 % of all species, respectively, offering a scalable approach for local conservation planning.
The session will also address common misconceptions about MPAs. Myths include that fully protected MPAs are radical in limiting public access, are expensive, displace fishing efforts, and don´t benefit fisheries, pelagic species, or help climate resilience. Other myths are that MPAs aim to protect biodiversity and that biodiversity is only harmed by commercial fishing. The experience worldwide is that fully protected (no fishing) areas reliably result in naturally restored biodiversity with spillover benefits to fisheries, in contrast to partially protected areas.
Speakers
Mark Costello
Professor, Nord University, NO
Mark John Costello is an ecologist specialising in biogeography, Marine Protected Areas, the effects of climate change on biodiversity, aquaculture-environment interactions (including sea lice biology and control on salmon farms), ecotoxicology, and marine and freshwater ecology.
He pioneered ‘Ocean biodiversity informatics’, notably by leading the establishment of the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) and the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) databases. He played leading roles in many international organisations, including: being a lead author in the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 6th Assessment Report where he co-led the Cross Cutting Chapter on Biodiversity Hotspots; co-chairing the Group on Earth Observations Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) for 10 years; President and Secretary of the International Association for Biological Oceanography (IABO); and Vice-Chair of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Scientific Committee.
Mark has supervised over 70 graduate students. He has over 300 peer-reviewed publications cited over 28,000 times. He currently leads the MBON Europe initiative to establish a long-term network of marine biodiversity monitoring in Europe, and MPA Europe, a project mapping the best places to protect biodiversity and carbon stores in all European seas.
From Ireland, a fascination with wildlife led to studying in Galway (BSc Hon.), followed by a PhD based in Ireland’s only Marine Reserve, post-doc’s at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth England and Scottish Office Aberdeen and Napier University in Edinburgh Scotland, a lectureship in Trinity College Dublin, establishing the environmental consulting company EcoServe, and a term as Executive Director of the Huntsman Marine Science Centre in Canada until returning to an academic position in Auckland New Zealand. He is currently a professor at Nord University, Arctic Norway, and a Visiting Professor at the Ocean University of China, Qingdao.
Moderator
Vanessa Yepes-Narváez
Researcher, INVEMAR, CO
Vanessa Yepes-Narváez is a scientific researcher (PhD) linked to the Marine and Coastal Research Institute of Colombia – INVEMAR and is the lead coordinator of LACOBON (Latin American and Caribbean Ocean Biomolecular Observing Network). Her work focuses on the implementation of DNA-based methodologies to enhance biodiversity assessments and inform decision-making in Colombia. She is currently working on the use of eDNA for the identification of key fauna for the establishment and monitoring of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
We will continue with the Networking Fridays during the next months. More information about future sessions as well as presentations and videos from previous sessions can be found here. Please do not forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Twitter Hashtag: #netfridays. Expect some very exciting mornings, afternoons or evenings, depending on where you are…
If you need any additional information please send an email to Catarina Paes Duarte.