Stories and Solutions: GRID-Arendal Annual Report 2015

Marine Spatial Planning

The marine environment supports a wide range of human uses and activities including fisheries and aquaculture, shipping, mineral resources, energy, tourism, recreation and cultural heritage. There is increasing competition for access to these resources to support both livelihoods and economic development, resulting in conflict and negative effects on the marine environment. Marine spatial planning is a science-based process that brings together stakeholders (including users and managers) to build an understanding of these human uses, resource distribution and natural values. It develops scenarios for resource use that minimise conflict and improve sustainability.

Bluebridge The Marine Spatial Planning team was part of a successful Horizon 2020 bid called BlueBRIDGE, which will develop web based analysis and reporting tools to support improved management of fisheries, aquaculture and the marine environment. GRID-Arendal will work with a range of partners to develop a method to report on how well marine protected areas represent a range of environmental features including ecologically ones such as seagrasses, mangroves, coral reefs and undersea mountains, or seamounts. GRID-Arendal will also be involved in developing a tool to examine the interactions between mangroves and aquaculture sites. Story Maps The marine spatial planning group also launched a new communication method for GRID-Arendal called story maps, which allows projects to be highlighted through interactive story-based maps. A story map on the spread of sargassum seaweed in West Africa was prepared in response to a request from the Abidjan Convention

Secretariat to support a Regional Expert Group Meeting on Sargassum, held in Sierra Leone in November. Sargassumhas beenwashingup onbeaches inWest Africa due to changes in seasonal currents creating a significant problem for coastal habitats and coastal tourism. Other story maps published in 2015 cover ecosystem services of the Okavango River basin, blue carbon ecosystems and seamount morphology. The Coastal Ecosystem Mapping and Media Viability Project is an Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI) led initiative in partnership with GRID-Arendal and the environmental consultancy group Five Oceans Environmental Services. The project is also supported by the Sharjaah Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA), Dubai Municipality, and the GEF Blue Forests Project. The project uses drones to measure mangrove forest volume to accurately predict their biomass and carbon sequestration capabilities. Drones are the new survey

Drone view of Hove, Arendal, Norway. Photo: Rob Barnes

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