Abstract
Key Customer Purpose: The UK has a formal requirement and international commitment to provide a number of detailed assessments on the state of UK marine waters for the OSPAR Quality Status Report (QSR), which will be published in 2010. The European Commission has indicated that the OSPAR QSR could be used as a component of the Initial Assessment, which Member States will be required to prepare for the European Marine Strategy Directive. The Directive is expected to come into force by the end of 2007 and the UK will be under a legal duty to begin to implement it. It is our intention to draw on this work to prepare Charting Progress 2, which will be the next UK report on the state of our seas and oceans. Summary Objectives: The project will produce a stand-alone document which sets out the UK contributions to the QSR, including trend statistics where these exist, which can be used as a reference document , and also to contribute to the production of Charting Progress 2 (CP2) and the UK report which will be required for the initial assessment under the EC Marine Strategy Directive (EMSD). To use the experience gained in assembling the information, and particularly the various time series, to develop a specification for a UK (and regional) annual report card, which would supplement the Charting Progress process and would enable regular reporting on key parameters and metrics to show progress towards achieving the Marine Strategy Directive descriptors of good environmental status.
United Kingdom