Practical application of habitat maps for spatial planning and
environmental management
Diversity in the nature of the project partner's
business was a core strength of the the MESH Partnership,
particularly since we had Partners whose business makes use of
habitat maps in addressing practical applications of marine spatial
planning and environmental management.
From the outset, the MESH Project set out to engage with
end-users to ensure the project's key products met with their
requirements. Furthermore, such stakeholder engagement ensured that
the project drew on their previous experience of using maps to help
design the outputs to better meet stakeholder's needs.
MESH demonstrated, through case studies and workshops, the
political, economic and environmental value of marine habitat maps
for regional/spatial planning for sustainable marine resource
management in the Northwest Europe INTERREG-IIIB Area. These
workshops helped gather end-user feedback on marine habitat mapping
needs and formats (e.g. type of data, scale, paper versus
electronic, etc.). This information contributed to the development
of a follow-on strategy after the end of the MESH project.
Outputs and Products
The key products from Action 5 were:
Activities undertaken in
the Irish Sea where a pilot
study was used
to test the potential for spatial planning
mechanisms to manage
marine resources.