The Finding Sanctuary Project Team has two key components: the liaison team, who are responsible for liaising with and gathering information from stakeholders across the region; and the planning team, who are responsible for gathering and processing scientific information, and supporting stakeholders in the planning of the network.

Our three stakeholder liaison officers, Dan Edwards, Dave Murphy and Spike Searle are based in Dorset, Devon and Cornwall. In each of these counties they are responsible for meeting stakeholders and ensuring that they are able to actively engage in the design of the South West MPA network. Our communications coordinator, Joana Doyle is based at the office in Topsham and is responsible for stakeholder engagement, website management and public relations.

Our aim is to make sure that the project is as accessible as possible to stakeholders, through individual meetings, project surgeries and our interactive web mapping tool. We are using a participatory mapping technique to record information about areas of stakeholder activity and ecological knowledge:- Finding Sanctuary WebGIS

Stakeholders have vital knowledge to contribute to the process, which complements scientific data, and helps build a firm foundation for planning. Engaging stakeholders from the start enables them to share this knowledge with the planning team and other stakeholders, to help develop a shared understanding about the seas around us and how they are used by us. Allowing stakeholders to shape the developing MPA network will furthermore build support for the MPAs once they are in place. MPAs which are broadly supported are more likely to be complied with, thus ensuring they provide real protection and deliver benefits.

At our office in Topsham we have two planning and marine data specialists: Louise Lieberknecht and Shaun Lewin.

The best available ecological, human, geographical and physical data is currently being sourced and processed into a Geographical Information System (GIS). GIS is a powerful software mapping tool that allows us to visualise and analyse marine data. That includes data on the natural environment, such as the distribution of different types of sea floor, the shapes and depth contours of the sea floor, and the locations where marine species have been sighted. It also includes information on what areas are used by people for their leisure and livelihood, such as the location of current and planned windfarms, transport and shipping routes, the location of sea floor cables, popular angling spots, and areas used for different kinds of fishing.

Our planning and marine data specialists also have responsibility for supporting the stakeholder group in developing potential MPA network maps by applying our design principles to the data we have within our GIS. One of the most fundamental features of the planning of MPAs is that they will change in shape, size and location as the project progresses.

Where MPAs will ultimately be located can never be decided by computer software alone - decisions are down to people. But there are powerful programmes that can make sense of multiple complex datasets and can help people make those decisions. Marxan is one such decision support tool, which we will use to analyse the data and explore multiple options for the MPA network.

The formal way in which stakeholders provide feedback and guidance to the project is through our Steering Group. This group meets at regular intervals and has a central role in designing the developing MPA network.

Finding Sanctuary brings together a partnership of organisations. Representatives from these organisations meet quarterly to oversee the management and delivery of the project. In particular they have a responsibility to make sure that the project goals are met and to oversee the management of the Project Team and the delivery of our obligations to funders. The Project Board has no involvement in the design of the MPA network.

A firm scientific foundation is needed to ensure that the network will deliver the desired benefits. A National Science Advisory Panel is being established to provide scientific support and guidance to all four of England’s MPA network projects, including Finding Sanctuary. This guidance will focus on the design of the MPA network, in terms of what sort of features it has to include and how much of them, as well as guidelines on size and spacing of MPAs.

In October 2011 our recommendations will be presented to Defra’s Marine Biodiversity Steering Committee in a comprehensive report with detailed maps at both a regional and local scale. The report will show the sites that have been identified as potential MPAs and the level of protection recommended.