Natural England - Sea change: securing a future for Europe’s seas

Sea change: securing a future for Europe’s seas

10 February 2010

‘Sea change: securing a future for Europe's seas’ was an International Marine Protected Areas (MPA) conference organised by Natural England in partnership with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and supported by The Crown Estate, Royal Haskoning and the Countryside Council for Wales. It was held in the centre of London on 8 & 9 December 2009.

Short-snouted seahorse - © Paul Naylor

The conference was designed to stimulate debate and collaboration amongst European countries to ensure that we work together to deliver a successful network of MPAs regardless of administrative borders, the conference's focus was on:

ensuring that MPAs deliver the right outcomes
sharing best practice in current MPA management across European waters
developing partnerships amongst neighbouring Member States
reviewing how MPAs can make a contribution to achieving Good Environmental Status as required under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive
improvements to the co-ordination of activities, such as fisheries, that require European-wide management.

The conference offered a compelling programme of presentations, panel discussions and workshops. The UK Government Minister responsible for the marine environment, Huw Irranca-Davies MP, addressed the event. Speakers came from Denmark, The European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK and the USA.

Themes and Presentations

Day One

Dr Helen Phillips, Chief Executive, Natural England
Securing a future for our seas

Huw Irranca-Davies MP, Minister for Marine and Natural Environment
The UK Marine Act and the UK approach to MPA network (awaiting presentation)

Jose Rizo, Principal Administrator, DG Environment, European Commission
Why trans-border co-operation is important in delivering the European MPA network

Charles Ehler, Consultant to UNESCO
Lessons learned from international experience with marine spatial planning

Professor Mark Carr, University of California, USA
The science of marine reserves
(Please contact speaker for details of presentation)

Dr Keith Brander, Senior Researcher, Danish Institute of Aquatic Resources
Managing marine ecosystems in a changing climate

David Connor, Head, Marine Ecosystems, UK Joint Nature Consevration Committee
MPAs, spatial planning and the Marine Strategy framework directive- parallel universes or joined up policy?

Dr Erik Olsen, Head of ResearchProgramme for Oil and Fish, Institute of Marine Research, Norway.
Managing human pressures in Norwegian marine ecosystems

Jens Enemark, Executive Secretary, Wadden Sea Secretariat, Germany.
The Wadden Sea World Heritage Site: collective protection and management of a coastal marine World Heritage Site

Dr Ingo Narberhaus, Marine Science Officer, German federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN)
German MPAs - managing activities beyond 12 miles

Olivier Laroussinie, Director, French MPA Agency
The MPA agency and strategy for developing the French MPA network

Day Two

Theme A - Establishing MPAs: stakeholder engagement

Jon Davies, MPA Programme Manager, Joint Nature Conservation Committee
UK MPA initiatives

Diana Pound, Director, Dialogue Matters, UK
Global good practice in stakeholder engagement

Dr Peter Jones, Lecturer, University College London.
Governing MPAs- getting the balance right between people, state and market-focused approaches

Tom Hooper, Project Manager, Finding Sanctuary, UK.
Integrating science and stakeholders in MPA network design - The story so far in south-west England (Please contact speaker for details of presentation)

John Butterwith, Chief Executive, North Devon Fisherman's Association, UK
Marine Protected Areas from a fisherman's perspective

Theme B - Science, monitoring abd decision-making tools

Dr Carlo Rondinini, Research Scientist, University of Rome, Italy
Adequacy: approaches to scoping the extent of the MPA network

Jeff Ardon, dircetor, High seas Program, Marine Conservation Biology Institute, USA
Efficiencies in crowded seas: systematic decision support tools

Dr Bill Sanderson, Senior Marine Monitoring Ecologist, Countryside Council for Wales
Delivering monitoring: the practical realities

Tony Child, Natura 2000 Project Officer, Thanet Coast Project, UK
Effectiveness of existing Natura 2000 sites in England (awaiting presentation)

Joe Breen, Head of Aquatic Science Team, Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland
Strangford Lough: a restoration case study

Theme C - Managing for sustainability

Ton Iljstra, Project Leader, Fisheries Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, The Netherlands.
Fisheries measures in MPAs

Dr Bryce Beukers-Stewart, Lecturer in Marine Environment Management, University of York, UK
Can marine protected areas (MPAs) sustain scallop fisheries?

Pim de Wit, Project manager, Department of Rural Affairs, Port of Rotterdam Authority, The Netherlands
Maasvlachte II project

Mark Russell, Director, Marine Aggregates, British Marine Aggregates Association
Restoration and monitoring of MPAs - an extractive industry perspective

Kurt Jensen, Environmental and Fisheries Liaison Officer, DONG Energy, Denmark
Renewable energy and protection of marine areas - coincidence or conflict?
(Please contact speaker for details of presentation)

Theme D - Beyond Borders: Building the network in Europe

Henning von Nordheim, Chair, OSPAR Convention
OSPAR network of marine protected areas in the North-East Atlantic
(Please contact speaker for details of presentation)

Poul Degnbol, Adviser (Scientific matters) DG Mare, European Commission
The CFP reform process and an ecosystem approach

Professor Dan Laffoley, Principal Specailist, Natural England/Vice Chair - Marine, IUCN WCPA
Building networks of MPAs - next steps

James Marsden, Director Marine, Natural England
Summary: actions to build the network in Europe

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