Success stories and lessons learnt from participation in international programmes/projects in the thematic field “Climate actions, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials” MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES PROTECTION OF GEORGIA NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY European Union Framework Programme for Research and Innovation INFORMATION DAY HORIZON 2020 Tbilisi, Georgia, 25 September 2015 European Union Framework Programme for Research and Innovation INFORMATION DAY HORIZON 2020 Tbilisi, Georgia, 25 September 2015

Towards COast to COast NETworks of marine protected areas (from the shore to the high and deep sea), coupled with sea- based wind energy potential (CoCoNET)

CoCoNET A four-year-project ( ) CoCoNET is the second biggest marine research project of EU under the 7th Framework Programme with a budget of € 9 million. The project includes 22 countries and involves more than 400 researchers from 39 institutions, covering a vast array of subjects, developing a timely holistic approach and integrating the Mediterranean and Black Seas scientific communities through intense collective activities with stakeholders and the public at large.

The project will have two main themes: 1 – identify prospective networks of existing or potential MPAs in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas, shifting from a local perspective (centred on single MPAs) to the regional level (network of MPAs) and finally the basin scale (network of networks). Measures to improve protection schemes will be suggested, based on maintaining effective exchanges (biological and hydrological) between protected areas. The national coastal focus of existing MPAs will be widened to both offshore and deep sea habitats, incorporating them into the networks through examination of current legislation, to find legal solutions to set up transboundary MPAs. Project Objectives (I)

2 – Explore where OWF might be established, producing an enriched wind atlas both for the Mediterranean and the Black Seas. OWF locations will avoid too sensitive habitats but the possibility for them to act as stepping-stones through MPAs, without interfering much with human activities, will be evaluated. Socioeconomic studies employing ecosystem services valuation methods to develop sustainable approaches for both MPA and OWF development will also be carried out, to complement the ecological and technological parts of the project, so as to provide guidelines to design, manage and monitor networks of MPAs and OWF. Project Objectives (II)

Project Objectives (III) The main objectives of the project can be reduced to two products: 1- Guidelines for the establishment of coherent networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. 2 – Compilation of a wind chart of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, exploring the possibility of establishing Off-Shore Wind Farms (OWF) in the two basins. In spite of the apparent simplicity of the objectives of the project, their achievement is far from simple and requires an holistic approach comprising a wide array of disciplines, from physics to biology and engineering, including socio-economy and law.

WP1-Management; WP2-Habitat mapping: state of knowledge, data integration and scenarios of protection; WP3-Species assemblages, dispersal and connectivity; The knowledge about habitat distribution and extent is critical for the conservation and the management of the marine system. WP4-Scenarios of environmental change (natural and human induced). Role and response of the MPAs WORK PACKAGES(I)

WORK PACKAGES (II) WP5-Offshore wind farms and marine protected areas Development of a smart wind chart for the entire Mediterranean and Black Seas

WP6-MPA Socio-Economic Issues, Management and Legislation; WP7-Information Dissemination and Outreach WORK PACKAGES (III)

Training students, researchers and stakeholders through summer school courses. WORK PACKAGES (IV) WP8-Training and capacity building

WORK PACKAGES (V) WP9-Data Management and synthesis Assess the rules for data and metadata sharing between partners reviewing the existing common European protocols and standards; Develop an analytical and evaluative framework for designing, managing and monitoring regional networks of MPAs, including wind farms, centered on science- based guidelines, criteria, concepts and models; Deliver digital maps of networks of marine protected areas and offshore wind farms (OWF) as final synthesis of the outcome from all WPs.

WP10-Black Sea Pilot Project Some of the field study titles of the Pilot Projects are: Collection of new geological, biological, oceanographic data in the Black and Mediterranean Seas pilot area relevant for MPAs implementation; Identification within the pilot areas key variables regarding connectivity (distance, size, strength and direction of currents, propagule supply) to be considered in the design of MPA network; Definition of what is specific to the Black and Mediterranean Seas and what can be generalised at larger scale within management plans in terms of connectivity processes.

WP10-Black Sea Pilot Project

In Georgia, during May-June 2013 two expeditions were organized to the Gonio-Qobuleti and Supsa-Poti coastal areas for plankton and benthos sampling. Five benthos samples and 15 plankton samples were taken at different depths: 0m, 0-5m, 0-20m. From the rocky coast in Sarpi 10 samples of epifauna were taken by diving.

Map of sampling points in Georgia: Sarpi-Gonio, Batumi, Kobuleti, Supsa, Poti

WP11-Mediterranean Sea Pilot Project

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