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MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES
PROTECTION OF GEORGIA
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY
Success stories and lessons learnt from
participation in international
programmes/projects in the thematic field
“Climate actions, environment, resource
efficiency and raw materials”
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 seabased wind energy potential
(CoCoNET)
www.coconet-fp7.eu
CoCoNET
A four-year-project (2012-02-01-201601-31) 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.
Project Objectives (I)
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 (II)
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 (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.
WORK PACKAGES(I)
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 (II)
WP5-Offshore wind farms and
marine protected areas
Development of a smart wind
chart
for
the
entire
Mediterranean and Black
Seas
WORK PACKAGES (III)
WP6-MPA Socio-Economic Issues, Management
and Legislation;
WP7-Information Dissemination and Outreach
WORK PACKAGES (IV)
WP8-Training and capacity building
Training students, researchers and stakeholders through
summer school courses.
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 sciencebased 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
THANK YOU FOR
ATTENTION!