LIFE REEF

Nature Conservation Agency together with partners Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology and Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment "BIOR" implements LIFE program project LIFE REEF (LIFE19 NAT/LV/000973) that aims to define justified conservation status of protected habitats and contribute to comprehensive management system of marine protected areas in Latvia.

The main objectives of the project are:

• Development of the quality criteria for evaluation of the protected marine habitats and review of existing definitions and descriptions of habitats;

• Improvement of the monitoring methodology for assessment of qualitative and quantitative changes as well as influencing factors of benthic habitats, fishes and birds; identification of potential marine protected sites and development of proposals for new MPAs for the Natura 2000 Network;

• Assessment of the effectiveness of the MPA network (including newly assessed territories) within the Latvian marine waters;

• Development of the management plan for marine protected sites;

• Assessment of ecosystem services provided by protected benthic habitats (1170 and 1110);

• Development of an action plan for limiting invasive marine species and development of mitigation measures to reduce seabird and marine mammal bycatch in coastal fisheries.