Vital work in the Welsh seas helping to combat the climate emergency
Prospect member Karen Robinson, lead specialist advisor on marine habitats at Natural Resources Wales, writes about how her work helps to better understand the impact of the climate emergency in Welsh marine areas.
Aerial view of the cliffs close to the historic South Stack lighthouse on Anglesey
Natural Resources Wales’ marine staff are engaged in two main areas of work on marine climate change that are furthering our understanding of the role of our seas in tackling the climate emergency.
Dr Karen Robinson
The first focuses on understanding the impacts of climate change in the Welsh marine area and the second on blue carbon – that is the capture of carbon by the marine and coastal environment that helps reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere that cause global warming.
We have been working on a number of projects to improve our knowledge on the impacts of climate change on the marine environment and the ecosystem services it provides.
In 2020 we produced a report in conjunction with the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership on the impacts of climate change in the welsh marine area. This provided some high-level information on potential risks to our marine and coastal environments, covering physical, biological and socio-economic receptors.
The report also highlighted evidence gaps and uncertainties that we are looking to address via our Marine Biodiversity Evidence Programme.
We have also undertaken an assessment of climate change pressures on our Marine Protected Area (MPA) network to identify sites and features that will potentially be at risk.
NRW’s Skomer MCZ staff undertaking MarClim surveys in 2019
This work will enable us to look at management options that can help offset or reduce risks, such as improving habitat resilience via restoration, or reducing pressures from human activities.
NRW also continue to work in partnership with MarCLIM to assess changes in the range and distribution of key species (as well as non-natives) on our shores.
The surveys in Wales form part of a fifteen-year period of annual UK surveys of over 100 long-term rocky intertidal sites. This year’s surveys are currently underway involving staff from Plymouth Marine Lab and NRW’s marine team.
Blue carbon
Over the last two years NRW have developed a new programme of work focusing on blue carbon and the role of the welsh marine environment in tackling the climate emergency.
We have recently undertaken an assessment of the blue carbon sequestration and storage potential of the welsh marine area (infographic below), and are now looking at ways we can embed blue carbon considerations into other programmes of work.
Examples include restoration and enhancement of marine habitats such as saltmarsh and seagrass, both of which provide a number of ecosystem services including carbon capture and sequestration.
We are currently undertaking a project to look at how our MPA network can contribute to the protection of blue carbon habitats, as well as working with other government bodies to understand how activities that cause disturbance to the seabed affect the ability of benthic habitats to store and sequester carbon.
Outputs from this work will help us ensure that the seas around Wales can continue to play a vital role in climate regulation.
Additional input from Clive Walmsley, branch chair, Natural Resources Wales.
