Report on evaluation framework for holistic management – summary of the concept, requirements and management implications. BIO-C3 Deliverable, D5.3. EU Bonusproject BIO-C3

Due to its unique characteristics with substantial drainage area and limited water exchange with the North Sea, considerable salinity gradient, permanent stratification as well as a combination of numerous, strong anthropogenic and climatic pressures the Baltic Sea environment is under constant stress. Considering the intensity of exploitation and complexity of pressures of natural and anthropogenic origin as well as their cumulative effects, the Baltic Sea biodiversity has to be investigated and managed in a holistic and integrated way. Even if some of those pressures cannot be successfully managed especially in a short-term perspective, it is absolutely crucial to consider their impact in suggested management actions. The approach needs to be adaptive to handle relevant spatial and temporal scales as well as foreseen and unforeseen changes. The goal of the BIO-C3 project was to move from the current “single driver/threat” approach to a science based, comprehensive, and integrated approach. In this report we are presenting data, monitoring, and knowledge requirements as well as assessment and analytical tools that are needed to establish a management evaluation framework for an adaptive, integrated management of biodiversity in the Baltic Sea. A comprehensive analysis of various aspects of drivers and pressures on marine biodiversity has been provided and discussed including the assessment of the cumulative effects of multiple human pressures as their perceived impacts on the Baltic ecosystem are in most cases a combination of different human induced pressures and an isolated analysis of the impact(s) of single pressures remain extremely challenging or impossible. The recently suggested risk management process to entrench the cumulative effect assessments adequately handles the associated uncertainty and streamlines the uptake of scientific outcomes into the science-policy interface...