Webinars

Upcoming Webinars

Advancing Ecosystem-Based Marine Spatial Planning Through the MarinePlan Decision Support System

Wednesday, March 18, 10 am US EDT/7 am US PDT/2 pm UTC/3 pm CET. Presented by:Vanessa Stelzenmüller of Thünen Institute of Sea Fisheries. Description: Achieving both conservation and green energy goals demands new approaches that more effectively align marine spatial planning (MSP) with systematic conservation planning. As a forward-looking, integrative process, MSP is uniquely positioned to help deliver sustainable marine futures, especially when grounded in strong ecosystem considerations. Implementing an ecosystem-based approach to MSP (EB-MSP) is therefore essential. This webinar will present a stakeholder-informed Decision Support System (DSS) for EB-MSP developed through the Horizon Europe project MarinePlan (www.marineplan.eu). The DSS offers practical guidance for aligning MSP processes with spatial conservation and restoration priorities. This webinar will introduce core components, including the use of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) as a central driver of conservation planning, as well as standardized guidance for defining planning scenarios aimed at meeting global conservation targets protecting 30% of marine areas, with 10% under strict protection by 2030. Finally, the webinar will compare developed planning scenarios with current MSP practices and discuss key insights. Challenges, opportunities, and areas for improvement within existing governance processes to support more effective implementation of EB-MSP will all be highlighted.

Tracking Global MPA Effectiveness: MPAtlas Tools and Tips

Thursday, March 26 at 10 am US EDT/7 am US PDT/2 pm UTC/3 pm CET. Presented by: Beth Pike, Jessica MacCarthy, and Nikki Harasta of the Marine Conservation Institute. Description: Where does the “3% of MPAs are effective” statistic come from? Would your work benefit from being able to see the number of fully and highly protected MPAs in different countries? Do you wish there was a platform for viewing High Seas MPAs? Maybe you want to see how many MPAs are protected from anchoring and aquaculture in addition to fishing, or maybe you want to view global MPAs by size class. Do you want to download the list of countries and the amount of EEZ that is fully or highly protected? Or do you want that list aggregated by sovereignty? The Marine Protection Atlas (MPAtlas) website has been tracking MPA effectiveness since 2012, but many folks do not know that it can do all this and more! Join this webinar to learn how to leverage this open access downloadable data for your conservation needs.

Valuing Marine Ecosystem Services for Better Decisions

Wednesday, April 8, 1 pm US EDT/10 am US PDT/5 pm UTC/6 pm BST. Presented by: Angela Fletcher and Glen Delaney of Earth Economics. Description: Marine and coastal ecosystems provide many ecosystem services that are essential to human communities, including food, recreational opportunities, and protection of infrastructure from natural disasters. These benefits are not often framed in economic terms, which can lead to them being overlooked in decision-making. Communicating ecosystem services in economic terms can support more holistic decision-making that accounts for the full range of benefits these systems provide. In this webinar, Angela Fletcher and Glen Delaney of Earth Economics will introduce the fundamentals of ecosystem service valuation and demonstrate how they have applied these methods in marine and coastal contexts. Earth Economics is a nonprofit economic consultancy with 26 years of experience applying valuation techniques in decision-making, policy, and project implementation. They will begin with a brief overview of ecosystem services and valuation basics, then walk through three real-world case studies that illustrate how valuation can inform conservation, restoration, and policy decisions: a valuation study of kelp forests along the California coast; the use of valuation to inform a National Marine Sanctuary application for the St. George Unangan Heritage site; and how valuation can support funding for salmon habitat restoration in the Duckabush Estuary in Washington State.

Past Webinars

From Alaska to Patagonia: IUCN Red List of the Continental Ecosystems of the Americas

In 2008, IUCN launched a process for establishing an IUCN Red List of Ecosystems that uses quantitative criteria to categorizing ecosystems..

What Will Adaptation Cost? An Economic Framework for Coastal Community Infrastructure

The new report “What Will Adaptation Cost? An Economic Framework for Coastal Community Infrastructure” provides a framework …

Water Quality Threats to Marine Protected Areas

Learn about two programs to protect the water quality critical to the health and effectiveness of marine protected areas. EPA’s Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Program …

Demonstration of Marine Valuation Databases

Ecosystem services valuation data is abundant, yet often hard to find. This is especially true for the marine world which has seen a proliferation of valuable data …

Drawing the Line: Visualizing global MPA distribution using practical protection categories with MPAtlas.org

Currently, only about 1.8% of the world’s oceans are in MPAs; far less than the 12% of land area that is protected. Of the world’s MPAs,..

Webinar Demonstration of COAST (Coastal Adaptation to Sea level rise Tool)

Many communities are ready to take action to adapt to changing conditions, but may be unsure which actions are good investments.

Citizen Science for Coastal and Marine Environments: Latest Research, Redmap Australia, Reef Watch, and Feral or In Peril

The Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) Tools Network and OpenChannels.org co-hosted this webinar on Citizen Science for Coastal and Marine Environments…