Monitoring and Evaluation of Spatially Managed Areas (MESMA)

MESMA has supplied innovative methods and integrated strategies for governments, local authorities, stakeholders, and other managerial bodies for planning and decision making at different local, national, and European scales, for sustainable development of European seas.

At the heart of the MESMA project was the MESMA framework. This framework explores in a logical way how the management initiatives in a certain area were established, so that they can be evaluated and monitored. In cases where no management plans are available, following this framework leads to recommendations for future plans. The framework was tested by applying it to 9 different MESMA case studies that represent 6 EU marine regions, and a range of national and international aspects of marine spatial planning. In addition, a collection of tools and geodatasets was made available, that should help to perform the analyses.

MESMA collected and described over 70 tools such as models, databases and decision support tools that are relevant for the monitoring and evaluation of spatially managed areas. The tools are linked to the MESMA Framework steps or can be explored by category.