1. EEA - EMMA Workshop November 20-21, 2006 EEA, Copenhagen
Requirements and data needs to develop assessments of marine ecological processes and biological elements
EEA - EMMA Workshop November 20-21, EEA, Copenhagen
Can marine/coastal biological and ecological monitoring and assessments be combined within EU context?
Jens Brøgger Jensen
Danish EPA

2. What is the background for a combined monitoring and assessment
Environmental monitoring and assessment has turned its focus from physico-chemical elements to biological elements
NSC 1995 took more focus on the ecological issue
by putting species and habitats and fisheries issues as the first chapters in the Esbjerg declaration
IMM 1997 focused on impact from fisheries on marine ecosystems and introduced the ecosystem approach as a guiding principle
NSC 2002 developed further by including Ecological Quality Objectives
In parallel OSPAR developed and adopted its strategies including the one on “Biological Diversity and Ecosystems”

3. What is the background for a combined monitoring and assessment
- continued
The precursor to the WFD was a proposal for an Ecological Quality Directive
however it lacked the sufficient provisions for control of pressures and link to other relevant legislation
The WFD provides the means for integration of control of land-based pressures with impact on the basic ecological conditions
(eutrophication, chemical pollution, physical pressure and other human activities that cause impact)
The Habitats and Birds Directives have their focus on habitats and species but they were developed before or in the early days of the “ecological thinking” in the European legislation
The proposal for a Marine Strategy Directive has taken up the lessons

4. What makes a combined monitoring and assessment possible
Water Framework Directive includes the provision
Article 4
1(c) for protected areas
Member States shall achieve compliance with any standards and objectives at the latest 15 years after the date of entry into force of this Directive, unless otherwise specified in the Community legislation under which the individual protected areas have been established.
2. Where more than one of the objectives under paragraph 1 relates to a given body of water, the most stringent shall apply.
That implies inter alia objectives set by the Habitats and Birds Directives
The proposal for a Marine Strategy Directive includes the same provision
Overlap in scope and in areas of interest and in management purposes make it necessary to combine efforts

5. Overlap in geographical coverage
Overlap between designated Natura 2000 areas and coastal water bodies makes a combination compulsory

6. Overlap between HD and WFD management targets?
What are the similarities between
the Habitats Directive’s principles for achieving favourable conservation status
and
The Water Framework Directive’s normative definitions of good status with emphasis on good ecological status.

7. What could be included in the analysis
An analysis of the overlap between:
Definitions with a different point of departure
HD: Conditions in 1994 (impacted or not)
WFD: Deviations from reference conditions
Both focusing on the ecological structure, functioning and stability
with a parallelism between management goals;
and parallelism to OSPAR and HELCOM and to Urban Waste Water Directive and Nitrates Directive
WFD HD
High
Favourable conservation status
Good
Management goal
Moderate
Un-favourable conservation status
Poor
Bad

8. What could be included as basic indicators
The biological elements of the WFD definition of ecological status with the values for good status provides common basic indicators for the management targets
Fytoplankton
general correlation between biomass and the eutrophication level
may not be relevant for HD in protection of species, but it is an important factor determining composition and biomass of benthic fauna
HD protected areas are mostly benthic with focus on benthic communities
Macroalgae and angiosperms
Area coverage, depth distribution and species distribution reflect a habitat’s specific ecological structure and function including the substrate (dynamics)
Indicator for eutrophication, physical pressure, however, mostly in coastal waters
Benthic invertebrates
Area density, presence of sensitive species, species composition, biological effects
Indicator for eutrophication (secondary), physical pressure, ecotox.

9. Distribution of sea grass (Zostera marina)
Tool 1: Relation for Zostera
(linear depiction)
Nitrogen concentration (summer)

10. Some indicators needed in MSD and HD are in less focus under the WFD
Fish (except in estuaries)
Existing indicators for biological pressure so far mostly focusing on commercial target species for fishery
WFD indicator under development
Indicator for biological pressure (fisheries)
Birds
Existing indicators regarding protected species
Indicators for ???? pressure
Mammals
Indicators for biological pressure (i.e. whaling, by catch)
Additional biological elements and specific indicators to express the protection needs under Natura 2000 and MSD

11. What to do in practise? Existing knowledge and information available.
Look into projects and activities under both (all) directives for a basis which can
Strengthen the scientific basis for implementation of the two (three) directives
Strengthen the coordination between the two (three) directives
Look into the WFD intercalibration exercise (present and future) and marine conventions work with the development of monitoring and assessment systems
Extent to other needed indicators

12. Conclusion and outlook
In the EU legislation there is and probably there will be more provisions that require combination of ecological objectives set by different directives.
There are similarities between the expression of the directives management goals which implies a common basic set of indicators
There is need for further development of indicators emphasising their response to controllable pressures.
Scientific information and knowledge for the first steps is existing, however, it needs to be brought into the context of the directives provisions for management of pressures