Voyage to the bottom of the seabed
The mapping of European seabed habitats goes online!
JNCC has been given the go-ahead to lead an EU Interreg-funded
international marine habitat mapping programme. This three year
project entitled 'Development of a framework for Mapping European
Seabed Habitats', or MESH for short, will start in spring 2004.
MESH has 12 partners across the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands,
Belgium and France, and aims to produce seabed habitat maps for
north-west Europe, together with the development of international
standards for seabed mapping.
Background
Our seas support an exceptionally wide range of habitats and a
rich biodiversity.These provide important food resources (fish,
shellfish) and yield valuable natural resources (oil, gas, and
aggregates). In addition the seabed is subject to increasing
pressures from new developments, such as for renewable energy (eg,
windfarms) and coastal developments. These ever-growing pressures
call for improved sea-use management and planning, which in turn
places a substantial demand for information about intertidal and
seabed habitats.This has been met by a burgeoning of seabed mapping
studies in recent years, but poor co-ordination and a lack of
agreed standards has resulted in an inability to provide regional,
national and international perspectives on the seabed resource to
aid our decision-making. MESH aims to address these key issues, as
detailed below.
First seabed habitat maps for north-west Europe
MESH will compile available seabed habitat mapping information
(see map above right for geographical scope) and harmonise it
according to European habitat classification schemes (the European
Environment Agency's EUNIS system and the EC Habitats Directive
types), to provide the first seabed habitat maps for north-west
Europe. Because the available information will be of variable
quality and patchy in nature, habitat modelling will be developed
to predict habitat distribution for unsampled areas, from the more
widely available geophysical and hydrographic data.The final maps
will be presented with confidence ratings so that end-users can
determine their adequacy for their decision-making and future
survey effort can be more strategically directed.
To improve standards for future mapping programmes and
facilitate data exchange and aggregation, MESH will develop a set
of internationally agreed protocols and standards for habitat
mapping. This will draw upon best available expertise across Europe
and elsewhere. The protocols will be tested through a range of
field-testing scenarios involving trans-national co-operation to
ensure they are robust.
Internet delivery and end-user involvement
Both the protocols and the habitat maps will be made available
via state-of-the-art internet-based Geographical Information
Systems (GIS), providing ready access to the information for a wide
range of end-users at local, regional, national and international
levels.
A wide spectrum of end-users will be engaged from the outset
to provide feedback, to encourage the supply of relevant data, and
to encourage the use of the mapping information for spatial
planning, management and environmental protection.
The MESH partnership
A strong partnership covering all five countries in the
Interreg (IIIb) north-west Europe area, brings with it scientific
and technical habitat mapping skills, national data collation and
management expertise, and experience in the use of habitat mapping
in management and regulatory frameworks.The UK partners are JNCC as
lead agency, BGS, CEFAS, DARD, English Nature, Envision and the
National Museum of Wales.
Contact file:
Head of Marine Habitats Team
Tel: +44 (0)1733 866837
Email: