5.3.6 Plymouth Sound to Fowey: Scenarios for Assessment

The third VALMER Plymouth Sound to Fowey Task and Finish Group meeting saw stakeholders participate in scenario building exercises that generated 47 theoretical actions which could deliver environmental aims of the Cornwall Maritime Strategy.

These were then assessed by the case study team which considered the suitability of each of the actions for the subsequent Ecosystem Services Assessment. Factors which were taken into account included the potential for the action to result in tangible effects on ecosystem services at the case study scale and whether gaps in the information needed to undertake the Ecosystem Services Assessment could easily be filled.

The first sifting process saw the Case Study team recommending that 19 of the 47 actions may be suitable for the Ecosystem Services Assessment stage of the project, either alone or as grouped scenarios.

A subsequent sifting process prioritised 3 scenarios suitable for Ecosystem Services Assessment in the time available.

The case study team set out a number of assumptions for each scenario in order to boundary them for the purposes of the Ecosystem Services Assessment. Where possible, the assumptions were based on stakeholder-developed theoretical actions.

The three hypothetical scenarios’ developed for assessment were as follows:

• Recreational boating: exploring changes in ecosystem services delivery associated with changes in mooring type and a reduction in ecological footprint on the seabed.
• Marine Protected Areas: exploring changes in ecosystem services delivery associated with introduction of Marine Protected Areas in the case study with high levels of protection i.e. no extraction or deposition.
• Dredge disposal: exploring changes in ecosystem services delivery associated with closure of two disposal sites with combined materials taken to a re-opened site within the case study area further offshore.