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Challenges of achieving Good Environmental Status in the Northeast Atlantic
Citation
Alexander, KA and Kershaw, P and Cooper, P and Gilbert, AJ and Hall-Spencer, JM and Heymans, JJ and Kannen, A and Los, HJ and O'Higgins, T and O'Mahony, C and Tett, P and Troost, TA and van Beusekom, J, Challenges of achieving Good Environmental Status in the Northeast Atlantic, Ecology and Society, 20, (1) Article 49. ISSN 1708-3087 (2015) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2015 by the author(s). Published here under license by the Resilience Alliance
DOI: doi:10.5751/ES-07394-200149
Abstract
The sustainable exploitation of marine ecosystem services is dependent on achieving and maintaining an adequate
ecosystem state to prevent undue deterioration. Within the European Union, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)
requires member states to achieve Good Environmental Status (GEnS), specified in terms of 11 descriptors. We analyzed the complexity
of social-ecological factors to identify common critical issues that are likely to influence the achievement of GEnS in the Northeast
Atlantic (NEA) more broadly, using three case studies. A conceptual model developed using a soft systems approach highlights the
complexity of social and ecological phenomena that influence, and are likely to continue to influence, the state of ecosystems in the
NEA. The development of the conceptual model raised four issues that complicate the implementation of the MSFD, the majority of
which arose in the Pressures and State sections of the model: variability in the system, cumulative effects, ecosystem resilience, and
conflicting policy targets. The achievement of GEnS targets for the marine environment requires the recognition and negotiation of
trade-offs across a broad policy landscape involving a wide variety of stakeholders in the public and private sectors. Furthermore,
potential cumulative effects may introduce uncertainty, particularly in selecting appropriate management measures. There also are
endogenous pressures that society cannot control. This uncertainty is even more obvious when variability within the system, e.g., climate
change, is accounted for. Also, questions related to the resilience of the affected ecosystem to specific pressures must be raised, despite
a lack of current knowledge. Achieving good management and reaching GEnS require multidisciplinary assessments. The soft systems
approach provides one mechanism for bringing multidisciplinary information together to look at the problems in a different light.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | ecosystem based management, Good Environmental Status, Northeast Atlantic, soft systems methodology, trade-offs |
| Research Division: | Studies in Human Society |
| Research Group: | Human Geography |
| Research Field: | Human Geography not elsewhere classified |
| Objective Division: | Environment |
| Objective Group: | Environmental Policy, Legislation and Standards |
| Objective Field: | Coastal and Marine Management Policy |
| UTAS Author: | Alexander, KA (Dr Karen Alexander) |
| ID Code: | 107748 |
| Year Published: | 2015 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 3 |
| Deposited By: | IMAS Research and Education Centre |
| Deposited On: | 2016-03-23 |
| Last Modified: | 2018-04-05 |
| Downloads: | 101 View Download Statistics |
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