Friday Ocean Findings Issue 60: Protection and conservation of species and habitats

OSPAR’s group on the protection and conservation of species and habitats (ICG-POSH) met in Aalborg (Denmark) from 26-28 Denmark. The meeting was convened solely by Marianne Olsen (Norway) who did a fantastic job but is still looking for a new co-convenor to help support this dynamic group.

The meeting participants reviewed eight new Status Assessments, for four bird species, three fish species and one habitat, which presented a mixed picture of how well the OSPAR Listed species are doing. While there was some good news regarding blue fin tuna and roseate tern, others Listed features including ivory gull, orange roughy and horse mussel remain under pressure and in decline.

The meeting also had a focus on measures, celebrating the adoption of OSPAR’s Marine Bird Regional Action Plan and the measure to reduce bycatch of marine birds (OSPAR Recommendation 2024/02) and looked ahead to the work needed to implement the plan. Our newsletter this week features the actions that have begun and the experts who are leading them.

Continuing the focus on measures, there was drafting work on concept actions for Regional Action Plan for Benthic Shelf Habitats. This Regional Action Plan will aim to address the findings of the OSPAR’s Quality Status Report 2023 that many benthic habitats were in poor status and under threat from various pressures, and the OSPAR strategy objective to adopt measures to prevent or reduce pressures on benthic habitats. The plan will focus on regional cooperation to ensure the effective protection and sustainable use of the seas and that OSPAR continues to play a leading role in a shift from nature decline to nature recovery.

Despite a busy agenda, the group was lucky to fit in an afternoon excursion to a seagrass and salt meadow restoration project just to the west of Aalborg on the bank of the Limfjord.

Enhanced measures for marine birds

It is evident from the QSR 2023 that many bird species, other than those listed by OSPAR, are also threatened and/or declining, suggesting that existing measures are insufficient. This task will identify the necessary actions to improve the status of both listed and currently non-listed bird species, including measures currently in place and those being developed under the RAP-Bird.

Flyways scale conservation

Many of the species or populations of marine bird in the OSPAR Area are highly migratory. The status of marine birds in the North-East Atlantic is “not good”, but the causes of this may include factors operating beyond the OSPAR Area, e.g. either in the Mediterranean or Baltic or further south in African wintering grounds.

Offshore wind mitigation / compensation measures

OSPAR Contracting Parties have significant ambitions for offshore wind development. The scale of development that is likely to result from that ambition has the potential to have a significant impact on marine birds across the OSPAR Maritime Area. This action should help Contracting Parties in taking steps to minimize impacts through guidance on best approaches to mitigation in a coherent manner that meets a consistent standard.

Reducing the impact of mammalian predators

The aim of this action is to reduce negative impacts from mammals on the survival and breeding success of seabirds.

OSPAR Commission
https://www.ospar.org/ | [email protected]
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7430 5200
The Aspect, 12 Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1AS, United Kingdom

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