Identification of important benthic areas for conservation – using shared data from the Domain 1 MPA planning process

This study used a Marxan approach to identify important benthic areas within MPA Planning Domain 1 (Western Antarctic Peninsula and Southern Scotia Sea). The results do not constitute any proposal for candidate MPAs, however they may be useful in contributing additional information towards the Domain 1 MPA planning process. Several core areas important for benthic conservation are described according to habitat-forming features such as geomorphology and bathymetry. The core areas are primarily located west of the Antarctic Peninsula in the Bransfield Strait and north of the South Shetland Islands, and around the South Orkney Islands. Data layers shared with all CCAMLR Members as part of the Domain 1 planning process were used in this study (under the CCAMLR data use and access rules). This study demonstrates the value of shared datasets in facilitating additional, supporting analyses for MPA planning. The range of available data also has relevance to a wide variety of other CCAMLR work, in addition to MPA planning. We therefore recommend that such data should continue to be made available through the CCAMLR website as far as possible, to provide for their use by any Member in MPA-related or other analyses.