Climate change adaptation: Evaluating long-term resilience of the Scottish Marine Protected Area network

Climate change is driving ongoing rapid change in marine environments worldwide, leading to shifts in species' distributions as they track their 'climate envelopes' (the range of climatic conditions underpinning long-term persistence). This has consequences for long-term conservation management. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are an important component of modern marine conservation practice, but their contribution to conservation may evolve under climate change. Ensuring continued resilience in marine conservation management under these conditions represents a significant challenge for marine managers and will have implications for marine users.

The project aims to critically evaluate the resilience of the current Scottish Marine Protected Area (MPA) network in the face of projected climate change to 2045 (by when Scotland seeks to achieve Net Zero CO2 emission status) and beyond, based on climate envelopes of selected features (species/habitats) for which these protected areas were originally designated, and explore planning/policy ramifications.