The marine conservation community is the largest within the Mission Charter, consisting of over 100 impactful actions that are making waves in Marine Protection Areas (MPAs), maritime spatial plans, nature-based solutions, conservation, restoration, research, and data. This article explores just a fraction of this community, focusing on four actions related to MPAs research, data, and stakeholder engagement – with aims to protect and restore our marine and coastal ecosystems treasures.
Charter actions operating within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are also part of the Blue Parks Community (BPC) under the Mission Ocean and Waters initiative. Convening in two annual workshops - including our latest edition of the European Ocean Days - this community brings together academics, research institutions, NGOs, and private sector entities working towards the protection of 30% and strict protection of 10% of EU sea areas by 2030.
In this article, PROTECT BALTIC, BLUE CONNECT, MPA Europe (Marine Protected Areas Europe) and work on marine ecosystem-based management by UIT the Artic University of Norway demonstrate how they are charting a better course for MPAs through the creation and sharing of key data—from biodiversity to cultural ecosystem services. These four Mission actions are tackling challenges such as data gaps, the need for stronger ecological connectivity, increased stakeholder involvement, and stricter MPA protection, ensuring our marine treasures stay afloat for our future generations.
PROTECT BALTIC, building a shared compass for protecting the Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is one of the largest brackish water bodies in the world, home to a rich and diverse ecosystem. To improve the quality and accessibility of MPA information and establish a shared compass for protecting this natural wealth, the Mission-funded PROTECT BALTIC project, led by the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM), is addressing key gaps in MPA data across the region. As a Charter action and Horizon Mission project, they have expanded their networks and, on the ground, expanded the number of documented MPAs from 189 to 1,876. These MPAs cover smaller areas, offering a clearer and more comprehensive picture of the region's protected areas. In doing so, they have identified a critical gap in data as well as a lack of strictly protected areas.
“We have reviewed over 300 MPA Management Plans from Estonia, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, and Poland, gathering key data on protected species, human pressures, and mitigation efforts such as fishing restrictions and habitat restoration. This process revealed variations in data availability, standardisation, and monitoring. A key takeaway is that, while the data is valuable, gaps remain—particularly in tracking the intensity and location of these pressures.”
This MPA data will inform PROTECT BALTIC’s groundbreaking protection optimisation framework, co-created with Baltic Sea countries. Aiming to increase spatial protection to 30% by 2030 through a data gap analysis and MPA management plan collection, this framework offers a comprehensive decision support package, with the process of data standardisation and gap identification adaptable to various legal and ecological contexts. The framework will serve as a blueprint for protection, restoration, and policy, with the potential to be replicated and scaled across other transboundary MPA networks. Successful replication of the project’s methodology in other regions requires investment in digital infrastructure, stakeholder engagement, and a legal framework for data-sharing, with ongoing input to ensure its refinement and strengthen unified conservation efforts.
BLUE CONNECT, a wave of systematic solutions for marine conservation
The Mission-funded BLUE CONNECT project – with the participation of Centre for Coastal and Marine Studies (CCMS) based at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland - brings together MPA managers, authorities, industries, and local communities to develop sustainable and systemic solutions for Europe’s marine environments. Anchored in the Mission Ocean and Waters, as both a Mission Charter and BPC, this newly launched project focuses on the strict protection, restoration, and co-management of MPAs to improve ecological connectivity.
BLUE CONNECT will make a splash with its Blueprint for Marine Conservation deliverable—a science-based, step-by-step guide for marine conservation planning, designed to support MPA managers, regional seas cooperation stakeholders, local communities, policymakers, business decision makers and marine planners’ efforts and actions. In this holistic modelling framework, the BLUE CONNECT team will integrate biodiversity, ecological functions, ecosystem services, and stakeholder input. Designed to be scalable, resilient, and adaptable across Europe, the Blueprint will evolve over time, considering the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems. This Blueprint will be based on learnings from demonstrator sites in Europe, conducted under the project:
“Our project will improve the understanding of co-management and co-ownership challenges, gaps, and opportunities at local, national, and European levels and offer solutions based on demonstrated good practices. To achieve this, we are running 12 demonstrators across four sea basins, exploring passive restoration, innovative monitoring, stakeholder engagement, ecological connectivity, and active restoration. For example, at the Macaronesia demo site, we have already established a local stakeholder working group (LSWG) with 15 organisations where we uncovered that most MPAs have outdated Management Plans and limited examples of effective co-management.”
Bringing together diverse yet relevant stakeholders is a key aspect of BLUE CONNECT, building on the legacy of other Mission projects such as BLUE4ALL, which has engaged stakeholders from 25 Living Labs and Information Sites across the Mediterranean, Baltic, and North-East Atlantic regions. To showcase their results before stakeholders, BLUE CONNECT will launch Transferability Road Shows as well as provide policy advisory support, particularly for policymakers involved in regional cooperation.
MPA-Europe, charting the course of marine protection
As guardians of the sea, MPA-Europe, led by Nord University, is mapping the best locations for marine biodiversity protection across Europe. By steering efforts towards a connected network of MPAs and climate-smart Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), the project ensures that Europe’s diverse species and habitats are effectively represented.
“We contribute to global conservation efforts by enhancing open-access biodiversity data. Part of our legacy has strengthened the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS), recording millions of species locations and mapping over 12,000 species. We have also developed a Euro-Carbon database to track organic carbon across European seas. At this final stage of the project, we are willing to support local and regional stakeholders with data analysis to enhance marine planning.”
A key aspect of MPA-Europe’s current work is engaging maritime spatial planners, policy experts, and MPA stakeholders across EU sea basins to refine its atlas design and enhance the application of prioritisation algorithms. However, significant data gaps present a challenge, particularly in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, where species distribution data remains scarce compared to the Baltic and Atlantic.
Their analysis has also exposed a critical issue: many MPAs offer only nominal protection, allowing activities like fishing that continue to damage habitats. To ensure effective conservation, MPAE calls for an expansion of strictly protected areas and stronger data-sharing among governments and researchers.
The results are anticipated to provide the scientific evidence and guidance for local stakeholders to design exactly where they will have MPA and consider relevant areas for future use and how they will manage them. Through science, collaboration, and decisive action, MPA-Europe is not only working for the future of marine protection but also shaping a legacy of informed, data-driven conservation across Europe’s seas. Their MAPS platform is open access, along with an upcoming scientific publication documenting all the methods for replication, allowing stakeholders to explore species and habitat range maps.
Marine ecosystem-based management empowering local communities
The work on marine ecosystem-based management, led by Arctic University of Norway (UIT), is setting sail to create tools for mapping marine values, threats, and priorities in spatial planning. While marine spatial planning typically involves experts, this project focuses on early inclusion of coastal communities. By integrating these local communities’ knowledge and needs, the project aims to reduce conservation conflicts and provide key data on biodiversity, threats, and the impact of protected areas on local livelihoods.
Under the Mission Charter, we are developing a public participation GIS (PPGIS) analyser, set to be ready for testing this year, while a platform for mapping values, threats, and priorities in and around MPAs has already been launched. These tools will support the restoration and protection of the rich marine ecosystems and biodiversity of the Troms Arctic Archipelago in Norway, all while empowering local communities to sustain their livelihoods through ecological practices within and beyond these MPAs.”
In a recent study, UIT explored using spatial value transfer to map cultural ecosystem services with PPGIS data from two regions in Norway: southern Norway (Sogn) and northern Norway (Nordland). The study identified key conditions for reliable results, such as ensuring similarities in land cover and social-cultural values between the data collection and transfer areas, and using large, unbiased samples. While spatial value transfer may not be ideal for assessing specific impacts, such as those from mining projects, it proves effective for evaluating broader risks like land-use changes and climate change, especially in regions like Norway, where deforestation is a significant threat to biodiversity.
This article is part of our Mission Charter spotlight series. Stay tuned for more inspiring actions working to restore our ocean and waters!
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