Marine monitoring procedural guideline: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for marine monitoring

Tender description

This project aims to develop procedural guidance for best practice on the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to monitor marine benthic and pelagic habitats. It will build upon existing guidance as well as deliver unique additional perspectives to better advise and support the marine monitoring scientist who wishes to use UAVs to meet their monitoring objectives. There are multiple policy and legislative drivers for marine biodiversity monitoring within the UK, including the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008), the EU Habitats Directive (1992), the EU Birds Directive (1979 amended 2009), the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and the Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013. All of these drivers have individual requirements for assessment and reporting which cover varying geographical scales and different aspects of biodiversity (Hinchen, 2014). Therefore, improved evidence on the state of marine biodiversity, and focussed research into whether and how the biodiversity elements are changing in response to both natural and human induced pressures, is vital. However, to be efficient and effective and to avoid duplication and overlap, it is necessary to set up biodiversity monitoring schemes that are general in nature, rather than specific schemes for each driver.