Marine Biodiversity Networking Friday with MSPACE

Climate-smart, economically viable and socially acceptable spatial ocean strategies

On February 9th, 2023, from 13:00 to 14:00 PM UTC we had a special session with Prof. Ana Queirós. Our coast and our ocean are undergoing unprecedented changes as a result of the breakdown of our global climate system. These changes represent a significant challenge to the delivery of marine policy that effectively protects ecosystem health, biodiversity and the communities depending on these resources. In order to harness opportunities for effective marine conservation and economic growth that emerge from spatial variation in the sensitivity of our marine ecosystems to climate change, climate-smart marine plans are necessary. Prof. Ana Queirós reported on the Early-Warning System of the MSPACE project, co-designed and co-delivered by climate scientists and marine ecologists and social scientists, with key UK Governments’, marine policy and industry representatives, to enable UK Nations to design climate-smart, economically viable and socially acceptable marine plans. These three lines of evidence are part of decision support tool in development, which will be freely available in the Summer of 2025, to help inform the co-development of climate-smart marine plans, fisheries, aquaculture management and the siting of MPAs. This framework is being expanded across Europe though the FutureMARES, ActNOW and NECCTON projects, and in 11 Large Ocean States in the British Overseas Territories. This work is an excellent example of the delivery of the UN Decade’s 2,3,4,5 outcomes, supporting people and nature adapting to climate change.

Programme (UTC)

1:00 PM – Introduction, Veronica Relano, University of Santiago de Compostela.

1:05 PM – Climate-smart, economically viable and socially acceptable spatial ocean strategies, Ana Queirós, Plymouth Marine Laboratory.

1:35 PM – Q&A, moderated by Veronica Relano.

2:00 PM – Closing.

This is an Ocean Decade Event.

Ocean Decade logo

Speaker

Ana Queirós

Climate-smart, economically viable and socially acceptable sptatial ocean strategies

Prof Ana Queirós is an award winning, internationally recognised expert in the co-development of solutions for ocean spatial management delivering climate change adaptation and mitigation (Queirós et al. 2021, 2022, 2023). She is leading transdisciplinary research teams in the UK and Europe co-developing spatial management solutions with policymakers, industry, and the private sector, focused on climate-smart marine spatial planning and blue carbon conservation. In this talk Ana, will present highlights from this work, which has included contributions across the ICES network and the United Nations community.

Moderator

Veronica Relano

Veronica Relano

Graduated with a PhD in Oceans and Fisheries from the University of British Columbia (Canada) in 2022, Veronica Relano is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the EqualSea lab, University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). Her research interests encompass marine conservation, connectivity, and socio-ecological challenges arising from marine resource mismanagement. A significant focus of her work is devising strategies to effectively communicate conservation measures to a wide audience, aiming to drive tangible changes in marine resource management. Veronica is the founder and director of the “SOS Somos OceanoS – We are Oceans” project, endorsed by the UN Ocean Decade. This initiative delves into the challenges faced by communities in regions with ‘paper Marine Protected Areas’, elevating local perspectives and fostering dialogues for equitable marine resource management and conservation. Additionally, she serves as the Oceans Program Manager at the NGO Onewater, dedicated to disseminating knowledge on sustainability, water, and policy to communities typically underrepresented in these discourses.

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 Jose Luiz Moutinho.

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