On the 18th of September and the 16th of October of 2024, MSPglobal 2.0 facilitated an online workshop to consult 52 experts in biodiversity conservation on the key aspects of developing a biodiversity inclusive principle as a complementary volume to the MSPglobal International Guide.
Integrating biodiversity considerations across policies and into the Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) processes is an urgent global imperative. MSP holds the potential to strengthen its contribution by helping identify priority areas for marine protection and restoration, establishing ecological corridors, and balancing trade-offs among various objectives and uses.
Thus, within the framework of the MSPglobal 2.0 project, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC) and the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission (DG MARE) are endeavouring to produce a complementary volume of the MSPglobal International Guide on Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), namely a Biodiversity Inclusive Principle that aims to provide guidelines and actionable steps for practitioners and policymakers so that biodiversity conservation becomes more embedded in MSP efforts. This volume will build a link to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and push forward the concept of ecosystem-based management in MSP.
Joint development of Biodiversity Inclusive Principle
After mapping a broad range of experts in biodiversity conservation from across the globe, MSPglobal organised a pre-informative online meeting to meet with interested participants, aiming to inform them about the collaborative process of co-creating the volume and defining its structure and key components.
Shortly after, two main online workshops were conducted to dive deeper into the concept of biodiversity inclusive MSP, the main challenges and opportunities for integrating biodiversity in MSP, as well as potential case studies to use in the publication.
During the first workshop, biodiversity inclusive MSP was discussed as a foundational element of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework after a keynote by Joe Appiot from the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. In addition, Helena Rodriguez from WWF presented about MSP in the European Union, and Stephen Kirkman from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DEFFE) showcased how systematic conservation planning is being used in South Africa. These sessions were followed by group discussions and interactive brainstorming via a digital whiteboard to capture concrete ideas for the publication.
The focus of the second workshop was to discuss the main characteristics of biodiversity inclusive MSP to come closer to a definition. Moreover, the participants debated over several questions that were posed to foster dialogue: How can MSP truly consider the various dimensions of biodiversity? Availability and accessibility of biodiversity-related data can be limited. How can we help solve this challenge? How can MSP (process and plan) be flexible and adaptive, especially for biodiversity’s sake?
To this date, the MSPglobal team is in the process of co-creating the publication together with contributors. We thank all collaborators for their engagement in producing this volume to better guide MSP practitioners and policymakers in integrating biodiversity conservation into the MSP process. This publication as well as another collaborative volume on climate-smart MSP will soon be made available on our website.
CONTACT:
MSPglobal.comm@unesco.org