Marine Vulnerability Assessments
A vulnerability assessment is an assessment of
possible impacts on marine biodiversity from human activities.
Activities exert a variety of pressures which can have different
levels of impact on habitats and species. To carry out a
Vulnerability Assessment, we must consider where activities occur
within the marine environment and what habitats and species are
found there. Using this information, we can identify the area of
activity which coincides with the different habitats and species;
we call this the ‘exposure’. Sensitivity
assessments then determine how sensitive each marine
habitat and species is to the activity in question. When we combine
the exposure of the environment, with the sensitivity of the
environment we generate the likelihood of impact, we call this
‘vulnerability’.
JNCC uses vulnerability assessments for a range of projects,
including:
• Assessing the status (condition)
of marine habitats for legislative reporting where in-the-field
data has not yet been collected or is limited.
• Providing evidence for the
development of MPA conservation objectives (i.e. high-level
statements of ecological aims for the MPA).
• Providing advice to industry on
the likely impacts of their activities on marine biodiversity,
particularly within MPAs.
• Jointly with Germany developing an indicator of physical damage
for Marine Strategy Framework Directive purposes under OSPAR
(Oslo-Paris Convention) coordination.
• Assigning a prioritisation to
the monitoring of MPAs following a risk-based approach.