Duration: 2022-2026
Lead organization: Technical University of Denmark - DTU
ICES contacts:
Neil Holdsworth, Head of Data and Information
Eirini Glyki, Science Department Professional Officer
The overarching goal of B-USEFUL is to co-develop a set of user-oriented solutions and decision-support tools allowing end-users to identify and visualize areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services in order to prioritize conservation efforts in biodiversity hotspots, or other high-risk areas requiring a stricter degree of protection. To achieve this overall goal B-USEFUL will pursue the following objectives serving to inform and improve marine management and governance frameworks for biodiversity protection in European Seas within the broader context of ecosystem-based management and marine spatial planning:
- Develop a set of operational biodiversity indicators and targets fitting end-user needs and policy goals
- Assess the status and cumulative impacts on marine biodiversity and their associated services
- Identify sensitive species, habitats and ecosystems particularly vulnerable to cumulative human impacts and biodiversity loss
- Simulate the status of biodiversity and their associated services under various future scenarios of climate change and human pressures
- Co-develop interactive, online decision-support tools fit for informing marine spatial planning
ICES role:
- Data standards and sharing protocols (Maximize the uptake and use of available European data infrastructure for monitoring and assessing marine biodiversity)
- Stakeholder engagement; co-creating indicators, scenarios and decision-support tools
- Co-develop, online and interactive tools and solutions fit for decision support within ecosystem-based management and marine spatial planning
