The Situation
The State had developed a number of techniques to analyze physical and biological data to better understand the ecological value of particular areas within the planning boundary and the potential compatibility of natural resources with existing and new uses. One of these techniques was the development of the EVI. The State requested assistance from MOP in evaluating the effectiveness of the EVI and in recommending enhancements to the methodology.
The Project
The MOP team organized a workshop with EEA staff and a panel of experts to review the EVI and make recommendations for its use and improvement in the context of expected advancements in underlying data and other decision making tools being supported and developed by MOP and EEA.
Role in Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning
Identifying and understanding ecologically important areas using scientifically sound data and tools is critical to CMSP. The EVI, like other analysis tools that support decision making, requires data from various sources to be accessible through a data network.
Challenges & Applications
A lack of consistent data presented a significant challenge to using the EVI during the MA OMP development timeframe. However, numerous MOP and EEA projects underway will further develop the data necessary to conduct this type of analysis. It is likely that ecological valuation data, methodologies and tools developed for MA application in 2010-2011 will be scalable and transferable to other areas.
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The EVI was one tool used during the development of the MA OMP to organize and analyze data to better understand the relative ecological importance of living resources and areas within the planning boundary. |
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Andy Rosenberg (MRAG, UNH)
Larry Crowder (Duke)
Don Boesch (Maryland)
Bob O’Boyle (Beta Scientific)
Ben Halpern and Carrie Kappel (UCSB-NCEAS) Carlton Hunt, Priscilla Brooks, Scott Kraus (Members of the SAC) |
