ABPmer makes major contribution to the UK Marine Monitoring and Assessment Strategy (UKMMAS) State of UK Seas report:

ABP Marine Environmental Research Ltd (ABPmer) has made a major input to the latest comprehensive study of UK seas: Charting Progress 2.   ABPmer, in association with eftec, prepared the chapter on Productive Seas which explored the economic value of the full range of human activities in the marine area and the pressures and environmental impacts associated with these activities.

Charting Progress 2 is the result of a five-year study into how human uses and other pressures, such as climate change are affecting our seas.  In particular, it pulls together evidence from across the scientific community to measure the progress we have made towards achieving healthy and biologically diverse oceans and seas since the first Charting Progress report in 2005.

The report looks in detail at how climate change has increased sea levels and temperatures and what impacts that change is having on the marine environment; the changes in the habitats and species in our seas; levels of pollution; and marine industries impacting on marine ecosystems.

Dr Stephen Hull, Technical Director, ABPmer said “Increasing evidence of the risks to the marine environment and increasing reliance on marine resources require us to improve the way we manage our seas. CP2 provides us with a useful summary of the issues and challenges facing marine managers and a clear focus for action in implementing the Marine & Coastal Access Act. The Productive Seas chapter of CP2 highlights the many economic benefits we obtain from our seas as well as documenting the pressures and impacts that these activities cause. The Productive Seas project has been ground-breaking in starting to collate such a wide range of information at UK and regional levels”.

Copies of the full report and overview are available from http://chartingprogress.defra.gov.uk.

Enquiries:
Tracey Hewett
ABPmer Communications
Tel: 02380 711840