Mrs Matilda Smollny1, Qianshuo Zhao1, Mr Francesc Vilaseca1, Prof. Mark Costello1
1Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture, Nord University, Bodo, Norway
Marine coastal areas generally have a high biodiversity and provide feeding and nursing grounds for many different species. A loss in biodiversity through human activities and climate warming not only changes ecosystem functions and services but also leads to population declines or species extinctions. Marine protected areas (MPA) are a key factor of conservational planning because they can reduce human impacts and maintain habitats for declining species. Reducing anthropogenic pressure also provides increased resilience to climate warming. To preserve biodiversity and to reach global targets set by the IUCN, Norway has agreed to protect 30 % of its marine area by 2030. However, as of 2021, less than 1 % of the Norwegian Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) are designated MPAs. In this project, we combined standardized benthic habitat layers with species records from OBIS for the entire Norwegian EEZ to find the areas with the highest biodiversity. Using the spatial prioritization software Zonation, we are identifying the optimal locations along the coast where MPAs would cover the 30 % most diverse areas while including over 60% of species and habitats. Protecting these areas would be beneficial for the recovery of biodiversity through the reduction of human activities and guide monitoring of trends in biodiversity. With this project, we propose an optimal MPA network that could be used for future monitoring, research and conservation planning.
