Building data resources for managing the South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands Marine Protected Area

The South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) Marine Protected Area (MPA) was established by the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in 2012, to ensure the protection and conservation of the region’s rich and diverse marine life, whilst allowing sustainable fisheries. Additional conservation provisions were agreed in 2013, and the MPA will be reviewed for the first time in 2018.

Review and ongoing management of the SGSSI MPA requires accessible and comprehensive data on the status and trends of marine biodiversity, ecosystem features and human activities. This project will deliver an integrated biological data and Geographic Information System, tailored to provide information and analyses to support the 2018 MPA review as well as the future management of the MPA.

The integration of biological data with spatial information will have significant benefits in terms of improving our fundamental understanding of the marine ecosystem in this region. This is critical not only for the management of the MPA, but also as a basis for extending our knowledge on the distribution and abundance of species, and their likely responses to potential future environmental change.

This project is funded by the UK Darwin Initiative (Darwin Plus), Defra  http://www.darwininitiative.org.uk.