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The Adriatic and Ionian Region (AIR) is an important area for both strategic maritime development and biodiversity conservation in the European Union (EU). However, given that both EU and non‐EU countries border the sea, multiple legal and regulatory frameworks operate at different scales which can hinder the coordinated long‐term sustainable development of the region. Transboundary marine (or maritime) spatial planning can help overcome these challenges by building consensus on planning objectives and making the trade‐offs between biodiversity conservation and its influence on economically important sectors more explicit. We approach this challenge by developing and testing four spatial prioritization strategies, using the decision‐support tool Marxan, which meets targets for biodiversity conservation whilst minimizing impacts to users. We evaluate these strategies in terms of how priority areas shift under different scales of target‐setting (e.g. regional versus country‐level). We also examine the trade‐off between cost‐efficiency and how equally solutions represent countries and maritime industries (N = 14) operating in the region using the Protection Equality metric. We show that there are negligible differences in where priority conservation areas are located when we set targets for biodiversity at the regional versus country scale. Conversely, the prospective impacts on industries, when considered as costs to be minimized, are highly divergent across scenarios and bias the placement of protection towards industries located in isolation or with few other industries. We conclude by making several recommendations to underpin future MSP efforts in the region, including the identification of: 1) areas of national significance, 2) transboundary areas requiring cooperation between countries, and 3) areas where impacts on maritime industries require careful consideration of the trade‐off between biodiversity conservation and socio‐economic objectives.

Presentation atCumulative Impact Tools for MSP Expert - Roundtable.Venice, 18th January 2018

Spatial decision-support tools can guide decision-makers towards knowledge-based spatial planning. Their application for multiple-objective zoning is beneficial for supporting the on-going Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) process, in particular in areas of high density of uses like the Adriatic-Ionian region (AIR). In this work, we give contribution to the sustainable development of the aquaculture, as one of the main maritime activities for sustainable Blue Growth in the AIR. Aquaculture expansion should occur alongside the protection of biodiversity and the conservation of sites where aquaculture and its synergic uses can coexist. Planning for these objectives independently from one another has been shown to produce inefficiencies in costs, area, and conflicts across sectors. The objective of this research is to operationalize multi-objective zoning for aquaculture expansion and biodiversity protection (seabed habitats, marine mammals, seabirds and turtles species distribution, nursery and spawning areas of commercially important fish species). The area of analyses is the coastal area of the Emilia Romagna Region (Italian Northern Adriatic Sea). This area is the main producer of mussels in Italy and it is currently intensively crowded by several maritime uses, which are expected to grow over next years resulting in increase of conflicts and pressures on sensitive environments (Natura 2000 sites; Biological Protection zone). The decision support tool Marxan and its advanced version Marxan with Zones were applied to develop planning scenarios. Firstly, we prioritise biodiversity conservation, through Marxan, while minimizing conflicts with other anthropic uses. Secondly, we carry out an aquaculture suitability analysis using a multicriteria evaluation approach based on environmental, biological and socio-economic conditions. Next, we simultaneously prioritize both aquaculture and biodiversity, through Marxan with Zones, while minimizing impacts on seven other industries operating in the Emilia Romagna Region. We discuss an integrated zoning plan that meets targets for multiple objectives, and which adheres to several constraints regarding the location of aquaculture farms offshore in order to both allow the use of bigger technologies for mussel catch and minimize the impacts on coastal environments (pollution impact, visual impact). Our analysis can guide multiple stakeholders and decision-makers towards cost-efficient solutions that are scientifically based, thus contributing to the marine spatial planning process and sustainable growth in the Adriatic-Ionian region.

The Mediterranean Sea is complex in its physiography (the average depth is 1,500 m, the deepest point is 5,267 m, with large shallow areas, like in the North Adriatic), in its ecology, in its social dimensions, in terms of interconnections between human activities and environmental characteristics. Surrounded by 22 countries, the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea house more than 150 million inhabitants together with a unique natural and cultural heritage, with over 400 UNESCO sites and several Marine Protected Areas. Today, is felt that the peculiarities of the Mediterranean offer major local opportunities for Blue Growth, from fisheries and tourism to energy and maritime transport. All traditional as well as emerging maritime economic sectors currently operating in the Mediterranean are expected to grow and expand over the next years with a consequent need to better consider the environmental impacts. The need for protecting the vulnerable ecosystem has been recognized since the adoption in 1976 of the Convention for Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution (Barcelona Convention) by all countries with a Mediterranean shoreline as well as the European Union. The situation is more complicated from the point of view of the use of resources. Most Mediterranean States have established a 12-mile territorial sea, reduced to 6 mile in some cases, but few started the process for establishing Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), as defined and regulated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC). Therefore, the existence of a large area of high seas in the Mediterranean requires a high level of cooperation between coastal states to ensure the sustainable utilization of resources (e.g. for fisheries). In this context, the challenge for a properly assessed allocation of marine space to the concurrent activities taking place on (and in) the sea, is higher, but probably also more necessary than elsewhere. The ADRIPLAN pilot project, focused in a part of Mediterranean quite complicated indeed, the Adriatic Ionian Region (AIR), is aimed to demonstrate that the MSP challenge in the Mediterranean is NOT a “mission impossible”. In ADRIPLAN we run an experiment, almost free from the complicated alignment of different national political decisions, but involving the local govern institutions closer to stakeholders’ and citizens’ needs, i.e. the Regions. All the main economic sectors were took into consideration and most of them participated actively to this experiment. The result is represented in this book. It is not a “real” Plan, as it is not binding for anyone, and does not involves or implies any endorsement of the Public Authorities (at any level) in the AIR. Nevertheless, ADRIPLAN is a “realistic” experiment, where the actual needs, desires, perspectives coming from the territories faced to the Adriatic and Ionian seas were taken into consideration. It represents a good step in the macroregional EUSAIR strategy, towards the adoption before the 2021, as required by the EU directive on MSP 2014/89/EU, of effective maritime plans in the area, providing guidelines and suggesting good practices valid for all the Mediterranean Sea. The proper spatial allocation of the activities is necessary also for reaching the goal of Good Environmental Status, as stated in the Marine Strategy Framework directive (2008/56/EC). Finally, It is worth to mention the renewed attention to the Mediterranean Sea paid in these last years by EU institutions. It has been a pleasure, for a “Mediterranean EU citizen” like me, to run this pilot project in parallel with the development of the BLUEMED initiative, a Strategic Marine and Maritime Research and Innovation Agenda for Blue Growth in The Mediterranean Sea, that is going to be launched when ADRIPLAN is ending. Supported by a coordinated R&I effort, the sustainable use of the Mediterranean’s richness, will help to put again this Marine Region at the centre, and not on the periphery of Europe. The future Mediterranean, shall be more peaceful, respectful of human rights and justice, lower in poverty and in social disparity than the present.

Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) is a practical way to create and establish a more rational organisation of the use of marine space and the interactions between its uses, to balance demands for development with the need to protect marine ecosystems, and to achieve social and economic objectives in an open and planned way (Ehler and Douvere, 2009). The so-called “Blue Economy” in the Adriatic and Ionian Region (AIR) generates an annual turnover that exceeds €21 billion, with an increasing growth trend. An effective spatial planning is an essential condition in order to guarantee a long-lasting development ensuring a sustainable use of marine resources for future generations. This is particularly true in areas such as the Adriatic-Ionian Region, where several uses are competing for the same space and the same resources and where the transboundary dimension needs to be taken into account for the best regulation of those uses. MSP is also an opportunity to connect the marine and the maritime world, essential components of Blue Growth. While an extended presentation of ADRIPLAN results is contained in the ADRIPLAN Final Report “Developing a Maritime Spatial Plan for the Adriatic Ionian Region”, this booklet intends to summarise key findings of ADRIPLAN (chapters 3 and 4) and to be a short manual, or at least a vademecum (actually a commented checklist – chapter 5), for those who, at different levels and with different responsibilities, are or will be involved in the elaboration and implementation of spatial plans in the AIR. It is meant to be applied in general to the process of developing MSP plans and to single projects dealing with specific aspects of the MSP process. This Report takes direct inspiration from the TPEA Report “TPEA Good Practice Guide” (Jay and Gee, 2014), for which we thank the Editors and all the Authors.

The application of new technologies (e.g. Internet of Things, mechatronics, remote sensing) to the primary sector will reduce the production costs, limit the waste of primary materials, and reduce the release of polluting compounds into the environment. Precision agriculture (PA) has been growing in the last years thanks to industry efforts and development of applications for diagnostic purposes. Many applications in PA use vegetation indices to measure phenology parameters in terms of Leaf Area Index (LAI). In this context, the correlation of some vegetation indices were analyzed with respect to the durum wheat canopy, evaluating two different phenological stages (elongation and maturity). The results show that for the first stage of growth, the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) was the best-correlated vegetation index with LAI, while the Land Surface Water Index (LSWI) was more reliable for the following stage of growth. Considering trials findings, a fuzzy expert system was developed to combine EVI and LSWI, obtaining a new combined index (Case-specific Fuzzy Vegetation Index) that better represents the LAI in comparison with the single indices. Thus, this approach could give place to a better representative vegetation index of a different biological condition of the plant. It may also serve as a reliable method for wheat yield forecasting and stress monitoring.