Conserving the Channel Environment: Marine Governance Matters

Conserving the Channel

Environment:

Marine Governance Matters Angela Carpenter, Rebecca Shellock, Steve Fletcher and Gillian Glegg

Centre for Marine and Coastal Policy Research (MarCoPol)

Plymouth University

Twitter: @marcopol

With special thanks to all our project partners

and funders

Scientific Evidence

Governance tools

Effective Governance

of the Channel

Ecosystem

For more information, see our website: www.pegaseas.eu

Governance

“The sum of all processes, organisations, institutions and instruments with an influence over how the Channel ecosystem is used and managed, both today and in the future. These can be both formal & informal”. PEGASEAS 2013

Background: The PEGASEAS Project

Promoting Effective

Governance of the

Channel Ecosystem

(PEGASEAS)

Project aims to

provide clear,

powerful,

communicable

advice to support

improved

governance of the

Channel Ecosystem

Public perceptions are key to governance

Why do we need the public’s opinion?

•To understand how the public engage with the marine environment

•To support policy and decision making

•To gain support for research projects and studies

Our survey: where does it fit?

Environment

OUR SURVEY

Specific Marine Issues

First survey of its

kind focusing on

the Channel

PEGASEAS Survey

Our Survey

Gained the opinion of over 2000 people: - UK: 1002

- France: 1001

Use of the Channel

Priorities for funding

Pro-environmental behaviours

Do scientists and the public agree

on marine issues?

“The US public think that scientists and citizens

disagree on [what] are the most important problems

facing the oceans” (Spruill 1997) Spruill 1997

Challenger Society Marine Science Conference

Marine Policy Session

Over 70 marine scientists

Do scientists and the public agree on priorities for the Channel’s marine and coastal environment?

vs

Scientists: 73 marine scientists attending the Challenger Conference

The Public: 2000 people from the Channel region (UK and France)

What are the scientists priorities for

the Channel?

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Ensuring cleaner water and beaches

Improving coastal flood defences

Creating new job opportunities on the coast and inthe seas.

Protecting plants and animals in the sea

Promoting marine pollution prevention

Encouraging offshore marine renewable energy

Protecting plants and animals on the coast

Supporting the fishing industry

Enhancing safety at sea

Percentage response for each priority

Highest priorities

What are the scientists priorities for the Channel?

Lowest priorities

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Creating stronger cultural links across the Channel

Promoting marine recreation and leisureopportunities

Promoting cultural heritage and the arts


Developing better transport links across theChannel

Promoting research to support better managementof the Channel

Identifying priorities for coastal adaptation toclimate change

Working with businesses to become moresustainable and eco-friendly


Do scientists and the public agree on

the future priorities for the Channel?

What are the public’s priorities

for the Channel?

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Enhancing safety at sea


Creating new job opportunities on the coast and in…

Supporting the fishing industry

Promoting marine pollution prevention

Improving coastal flood defences

Protecting plants and animals on the coast

Protecting plants and animals in the sea

Ensuring clean water and beaches

Percentage response

Highest priorities

What are the public’s priorities

for the Channel?

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Working with businesses to become moresustainable and eco-friendly


Identifying priorities for coastal adaptation toclimate change

Promoting cultural heritage and the arts

Promoting research to support better management

Promoting marine recreation and leisureopportunities

Developing better transport links

Creating stronger cultural links


Lowest priorities





Yes they do!

Top 3 priorities for scientists and

the public

Clean water and

beaches

Top 3 priorities for scientists and

the public

Marine and coastal conservation

Lowest 3 priorities for scientists

and the public:

Creating cultural links across

the Channel

Lowest 3 priorities for scientists

and the public:

Developing better

transport links

Promoting marine

recreation and leisure

• Our public perception survey represents the first of its kind

at the Channel Scale.

• The survey highlights the challenges/gaps in the Channel

region.

• The results will be disseminated and used to advise future

policy and research in the Channel.

Findings:

Public perception research:

• Will help to understand how the public engage with the

marine environment

• This will aid efforts to better communicate marine issues to

the wider community

• Providing the public with a greater sense of personal

responsibility within society towards the marine environment (McKinley 2010)

• Promoting Marine Citizenship

.

Recovery of our marine ecosystems is a societal choice

and requires a vision of what WE want from our

environment (Potts et al 2011).

Key message:

To achieve our vision for the sea, we need to

integrate marine science with an understanding of:

How the public value

our seas

How the public

engage with our

seas

What they expect from

our seas (‘priorities’)

Key message:

To achieve our vision for the sea, we need to

integrate marine science with an understanding of:

How the public value

our seas

How the public

engage with our

seas

What they expect from

our seas (‘priorities’)

Any questions?

Scientific Evidence

Governance tools

Effective Governance

of the Channel

Ecosystem

For more information:

Visit us at the MBA stand

Or via:

Website: www.pegaseas.eu

Twitter: @pegaseasproject

Email: [email protected]

Documents

Conserving the Channel Environment: Marine Governance Matters