Resource

A global map to aid the identification and screening of critical habitat for marine industries

Resource description:

This paper provides a global map to identify potential and likely marine and coastal Critical Habitat, as defined by 'International Finance Corporation Performance Standard 6'. Eleven biodiversity features are identified which can be used as an early screening aid by industries and following mitigation strategies. The approach used involved assessing global marine and coastal biodiversity and ecological datasets against PS6 criteria for Critical Habitat, and using these assessments to build a global layer intended to inform environmental specialists and help guide site-level biodiversity assessments.

Author/Contact:

Corinne Martin

Programme Officer

Corinne.Martin@unep-wcmc.org

Publication date:

Requirements:

  • Suitable for expert and non-expert audiences. The methodology can be conducted using GIS software and appropriate datasets, followed by comparisons to assist analysis and decision making. The resulting maps can be interpreted by all, including non-experts

Advantages:

  • Prior to publishing this methodology, there were no publicly available methods developed in either the marine or terrestrial realms to assess the likelihood of sites or operations being located within PS6-defined Critical Habitat.
  • Although the target audience is currently dominated by marine extractive industries such as oil and gas and mining, the approach is also broadly applicable to other marine industries. Furthermore, it will be of use to financial institutions wishing to ass

Constraints:

  • Three broad challenges were faced when using global data to identify Critical Habitat: (i) data availability and geographic bias
  • (ii) data limitations in terms of commission and /or omission and (iii) accurate alignment of the data to IFC PS6 Critical Habitat criteria. Each of these is discussed in the review.
  • Global data layers provide a starting point for identifying Critical Habitat features. On the ground surveys are however crucial to conduct a thorough assessment to determine the presence or absence of Critical Habitat unambiguously.

DOI reference:

10.1016/j.marpol.2014.11.007

Licence:

  • Free, no licence

Development stage:

  • Full, working product
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