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Parallel to the selection and nomination process of the marine NATURA 2000 sites, a presentation concept for increasing public awareness was developed and implemented. This was the research project “developing and implementing a presentation concept to increase public awareness”. Starting in late summer 2002, four different products for conveying information were designed:

These four products were developed almost at the same time, but they were published in two phases with slightly differing goals and target groups, depending on the status of the nomination procedure. Initially, the video, the website and the booklet were prepared. Their publication date was June 2003 at the joint ministerial meeting of the Helsinki and OSPAR Commissions with the Baltic and North Sea riparian states in Bremen. The interactive CD-Rom will be published in the second half of 2005.

All products confirm under the main title and name . The initial subheading, “Research for protection of the North and Baltic Seas”, was updated in summer 2004 to “Research and protection for the North Sea and Baltic Sea”, according to the nomination procedure of the protected areas.

Increasing pressure on marine ecosystems resulting from various kinds of human activities has led to a number of global and regional international initiatives and conventions. Most prominent for northern European Seas are the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Helsinki Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea, the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, and the Birds and Habitats Directives of the EU.

The fundamental goals of marine nature conservation can be described as to conserve, protect, restore and manage:

These conservation objectives can only be achieved if human activities affecting our oceans and seas were conducted by applying six key principles:

Further, the ecosystem approach to the management of human activities as has been clarified by the Helsinki- and the OSPAR Conventions should always be applied.

Probably the most effective measure to achieve substantial marine conservation is to establish coherent networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) at regional and global levels. This needs to be complemented by general habitats and species protection and enhancement, as well as by undiminished efforts to reduce unsustainable extraction of natural resources, to minimize eutrophication and pollution and to hinder new discharges to the seas. Red lists of threatened, endangered and/or declining species, habitats or biotopes would help assess the status of marine biodiversity, the effects of human activities, and the possible success of interventions.

This paper describes the most relevant international conventions and regulations with respect to marine nature conservation of the seas in Northern Europe (North East Atlantic and Baltic Sea). The current implementation status of conservation measures and specifically of MPAs and some next steps are also outlined.

At the international level, Articles 192, 194, and 56(1)(b)(iii) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) oblige the coastal States to protect the marine environment in their own Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). The measures required under international law also include the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Regulations in MPAs must be based on the sovereign rights and jurisdictions given to the coastal States by UNCLOS. Admissible restrictions concern most forms of economic uses such as all kinds of installations, the exploration and exploitation of the living and non-living resources in the water, seabed and subsoil. Marine scientific research is also covered by such restrictions, but not navigation, overflight and military use. Specifications of this rather general obligation derive from regional or global international environmental law.

The habitat protection directives under European Community legislation are legally enforceable and sanctions-implying obligations to carry out site protection. In the framework of the sovereign rights and jurisdictions that UNCLOS assigns to the Member States, the latter are obliged by the directives to establish even in their EEZs the coherent ecological network of protected areas known as NATURA 2000. The selection of the sites follows exclusively technical and scientific criteria. The protection system substantially follows Articles 6(2), 6(3), 6(4) and 7 of the Habitats Directive (HD). In accordance with these provisions, plans and projects which may adversely affect the site shall only be agreed to if, in light of the precautionary principle, no reasonable scientific doubt remains as to the absence of such effects. Possible exceptions must strictly follow the provisions under Articles 6(3) and 6(4) of the HD. Protection does not only have to be guaranteed at the time when an authorisation or licence is granted, but permanently.

In Germany, site protection in the EEZ is implemented through Article 38 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG) and in the form of relevant statutory ordinances on protected areas. Although Article 38(1)(3) BNatSchG refers to the EU legislation, Germany is responsible for the regulation of fisheries within the MPAs. This is because Member States are responsible for issuing site-related protection provisions — even if these have side effects on fishery — when fulfilling their protection obligation under Article 6 HD and Article 4 of the Birds Directive (BD). Based on Article 6 EC Treaty, the Community can also take measures under the Common Fisheries Policy to support the Member States in their efforts to protect species and habitats in their NATURA 2000 sites (e.g., protection of the ). Thus, the Council of the EU can adopt measures with nature conservation effects, but it can never supersede the Member State in their own responsibility. The restrictions under Articles 38(1)(4) and 38(1)(5) BNatSchG rule out the possibility of abstract and general prohibitions of projects mentioned in that Article (prospecting and extraction of mineral resources, windmills, etc.) but not the duty to carry out an impact assessment. Statutory ordinances with regard to protected areas in the EEZ are to be implemented by use of management plans under the responsibility of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN).

In the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the marine natural habitats (NATURA 2000 code 1170) and (1110) are found throughout the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. They serve several important functions, such as offering protection for rare and threatened species, as well as hosting important and threatened biotopes. Both habitat types occur in nearshore coastal waters as well as in offshore waters. Calculations show that with around 79% of all German North Sea sandbank habitats and with ca. 61% of those in the Baltic Sea, the majority of this habitat is situated in offshore waters of the German EEZ and the minority in the coastal waters of the Territorial Sea. The same situation applies for reefs in the North Sea (ca. 53% in the EEZ), whereas the majority of Baltic Sea reefs is situated closer to the coast (73% in the Territorial Sea). A great portion of the German EEZ sandbank habitats (64% North Sea, 99% Baltic Sea) and reef habitats (73% North Sea, 57% Baltic Sea) are included in the German offshore NATURA 2000 site nominations.

In the offshore waters of the European Seas, the selection of NATURA 2000 sites has only recently started. The guidelines for this process are still being developed by a Marine Expert Working Group under the umbrella of the European Commission. In 2002, following the adoption of the new German Federal Nature Conservation Act (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz), a relevant survey programme of the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with the title started. Its purpose was to identify, locate and assess Annex I habitats and Annex II species of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), and Annex I-bird species as well as regularly occurring migratory birds of the Birds Directive (79/409/EEC) in the offshore area of the German North Sea and Baltic Sea. The present chapter outlines how scientific conclusions (summarised in the more technical chapters of parts III and IV of this book) were used for this task in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). For habitats and species, the selection process itself was performed according to the criteria given in Annex III (so-called stage I criteria) of the Habitats Directive and according to Article 4 of the Birds Directive, respectively. As a result of this programme, Germany nominated to the European Commission in 2004 a comprehensive set of ten new marine NATURA 2000 sites in the German EEZ of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea: eight under the Habitats Directive and two under the Birds Directive. It was the first Member State to do so. Short descriptions of the habitats and species of each site are given in this chapter. In total, 31.5% (1,040,783 hectares) of the German EEZ is now covered by NATURA 2000 sites. This shows that despite many commonly recognised obstacles (i.e., limited information on sea-bottom habitats and communities, or missing necessary scientific research programmes to fill knowledge gaps), it was possible to select and nominate sites in offshore areas which fulfil the quality objectives of the European Nature Directives. However, the overall conservation value of the selected Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) within the EU still depends on the collective efforts of all Member States and, particularly, on the implementation of effective management plans.

This research project was conducted by the consultant ARGUMENT to develop an intersubjectively-revisable method for the identification and demarcation of sublittoral banks in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea by means of morphometric methods. This was done with the aid of TIN modelling and GIS-supported three-dimensional analysis of bathymetric data.

Three main steps were taken:

The following results were achieved:

A morphometric definition for marine banks could be developed and accordingly, identifications and demarcations of banks were possible, as long as a small window of opportunity was left open for the scientist’s own decisions. In this regard, the density of data was a decisive criterion for the identification and demarcation of marine banks. As results, 20 marine banks were identified in the North Sea, and 63 in the Baltic Sea.

Submarine hard bottoms (e.g., boulders, outcropping strata) are of particular ecological importance. They were investigated in the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the German North Sea and the Baltic Sea, using high-resolution seafloor imaging techniques (i.e., sidescan sonar and multibeam echosounder). Examples are shown from the research areas ; North Sea), , and (both in the Baltic Sea). There exist distinct differences between the two continental shelf seas regarding the distribution of boulders and the density (percent coverage) of boulders per unit seafloor. The observed differences are attributed to (a) different geological evolution of the seafloor, and (b) different forcing by waves, tides and currents, which are responsible for the redistribution of sediments.

Following an extensive bottom animal (zoobenthos) sampling expedition in early summer 2000, nine different faunal assemblages (communities) have been identified in the sublittoral offshore waters from the North of the to the inner parts of the (). The characteristics of these communities are presented, and their specific values for protection measures are indicated. Special attention is given to complex biotope areas where rare species and rich mosaics of communities occur. Since many of these areas fulfil the ecological criteria for and habitats of the European Habitats Directive, they have been proposed for site protection (see figure 1 in chapter 4).

The Habitats Directive is one of the main legal tools of the European Union to preserve biodiversity by maintaining and restoring natural habitats, and establishing a network of protected sites (NATURA 2000). One point of interest is the characterisation of marine habitats to localise the areas that fulfil the protection targets. Of the habitats listed in Annex I of the Habitats Directive, mainly and are relevant in the case of German Baltic offshore waters. Along a strong salinity gradient (5 to 25 psu), four planned offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) within the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Baltic Sea were thoroughly investigated in this study. More than 250 locations were analysed using a combination of standard sampling methods, underwater video technique, and measurement of abiotic factors (salinity, oxygen, sediment parameters). The areas of interest were the , and . The characteristic living communities (macrophytes, such as algae and sea grass, and macrozoobenthos such as worms, bivalves and crustaceans) for the different habitat types in these areas were characterised. Due to different salinity regimes, the benthic colonisation is different as well. In the Baltic Sea, with its decreasing salinity from west to east, the number of marine species declines, too. In the present study, altogether approximately 350 macrozoobenthic species and approximately 20 macrophytes were identified.

Due to their limited salinity tolerance, the occurrence of freshwater Annex II-fish species such as asp (), spined loach (), bullhead (), weatherfish (), bitterling (), and ziege () was found to be restricted to freshwater and oligohaline-mesohaline habitats (i.e., areas with relatively low salinities), especially in the coastal waters of the German Baltic areas.

Mainly anadromous Annex II-fish species such as sturgeon ( spec.), North Sea houting (), river lamprey (), sea lamprey (), allis shad (), and twaite shad () were expected to occur in the German parts of the North Sea and Baltic Sea. However, , a species of sturgeon, is considered extinct as a reproductive species in the North Sea region, and the sturgeon species last recorded in individual catches in the Baltic Sea in the 1990s is .

At present, the North Sea houting is very rare in the North Sea, while the Baltic houting population () is not protected under the Habitats Directive.

Since 1978, a total of 178 records of lampreys have been obtained in the German North Sea areas. Most of the lamprey records (mainly river lampreys) were located in nearshore areas, especially between Helgoland Island and the mouth of the Elbe and Weser estuaries. Recently, 81 individuals of river lamprey and 4 individuals of sea lamprey were recorded in German Baltic waters from 2000 to 2004.

Today the main distribution range of allis shad is restricted to the Atlantic coasts of France and Portugal. The record of allis shad in the in 1998 was the only specimen of this species caught in German Baltic waters during the last 20 years. Therefore, the species is expected to occur only accidentally in the German waters of the North and Baltic Seas.

In contrast, within the German coastal waters (12-nautical mile zone) of the North Sea, there were high-density areas of twaite shad. In total, 6,052 individuals of twaite shad have been caught in the () since 1978. Since 1995, however, the catch effort and the percentage of stations with twaite shad records have increased and, in general, there have been more records of this species in the German coastal waters than in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

From May 2003 until November 2004, 38 individuals of twaite shad were found at 14 different locations in the German EEZ of the Baltic Sea, northeast of the Rügen Island, as well as in the () and the () and its adjacent waters. Fifty percent (50%) of the total twaite shad records originated from the and adjacent waters. All of them were adult individuals. In the () and in the coastal waters of the Usedom Island, only juvenile individuals of age group 0 were caught; this amounted to 19% of the total number of records. Thirtyone percent (31%) of all individuals of twaite shad (mainly adults) were recorded from the potential Site of Community Interest (pSCI) () and adjacent waters. Given the recent records from the German Baltic waters, it is assumed that, after about 50 years of decline, the Baltic population of twaite shad has been increasing since the middle of the 1990s.

The observed status of the populations of Annex II-fish species in the German waters of the Baltic Sea and North Sea indicate that the study of their distribution and the trends in their population development must be continued on the basis of an international cooperation, especially with the new EU Member States of the southern Baltic.