Biogeography of the OSPAR maritime area

The ministerial meeting of the „OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic“ adopted a new Annex V to the OSPAR Convention in 1998. Besides programmes of the OSPAR Convention for the prevention from pollution with hazardous and dangerous substances and the input of nutrients this new Annex V together with the Appendix 3 inter alia aims for the establishment of a representative system of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) within the OSPAR maritime area. The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation conducted this study to identify biogeographical units of the North-East Atlantic and Arctic Oceans with relevance for the OSPAR maritime area to distinguish biogeographically representative areas for use within the OSPAR MPA-process. Such measures are particularly pressing according to the present situation of loss and change of marine biodiversity, and according to the related urgent call by the OSPAR Convention for action to protect, conserve and restore marine biological diversity against increasing anthropogenic threats.