Webinar

Best Practice Webinar & Study Launch: Offshore Biodiversity Data and Monitoring – What have we yet to learn?

07 October 2021

16:00 – 17:30 CET

Online

Organised by: RGI

In our interactive webinar on the 7th of October, the study “A Review of Biodiversity Data Needs and Monitoring Protocols for the Offshore Wind Energy Sector in the Baltic Sea and North Sea” will be launched and its main findings will be revealed. Author PJ Stephenson will present his key recommendations connected to potential impacts of offshore wind development on marine biodiversity.

Introduction

The expansion of offshore wind energy (OWE) is of great importance on the road towards global carbon neutrality. However, offshore wind farms and the related infrastructure have potential impacts on marine biodiversity. To protect the flora and fauna of our seas when planning and operating OWE sites, we need to monitor their effects on the ecosystems.

Against this background, RGI commissioned a study which investigates data needs and monitoring practices in two European seas that currently see an expansion of OWE, the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.

The study finds that:

The design and type of technology used while monitoring indicators and protocols are not sufficiently harmonised.

Research efforts need to be directed towards testing new technologies for the improvement of monitoring while data sharing has to be put at the center of collaboration amongst stakeholders.

Stakeholders need to collaborate more extensively in order to adopt more standardised approaches and thereby enhance data-driven decision-making processes

Author Dr PJ Stephenson is an Independent Conservation and Sustainability Consultant, Chair of the IUCN SSC Species Monitoring Specialist Group and External Scientific Collaborator, University of Lausanne. He will discuss these and more findings during the webinar