CEP has been awarded a new project to assist Natural England to understand the behaviours of recreational boaters
CEP, in partnership with the University of Plymouth and Plymouth Marine Laboratory, has been commissioned by Natural England to undertake a new project to understand the behaviours of recreational boaters with regards to anchoring and mooring in Seagrass.
LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES (LIFE18 NAT/UK/000039) Reducing and Mitigating Erosion and Disturbance Impacts affecting the Seabed.
Action C1: Changing Stakeholder Behaviour Project
The project is part of the wider project LIFE Recreation Reducing and Mitigating Erosion and Disturbance Impacts affecting the Seabed (ReMEDIES) to improve the condition of marine habitats of European importance.
The overall aims of the Behaviour Change Project are to develop a clearer understanding of the behaviours of recreational boaters in relation to anchoring and mooring in seagrass in two pilot sites, to facilitate the design and development of interventions to address any issues uncovered, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions in order to achieve measurable behavioural changes that can lead, in the long term, to positive biodiversity outcomes.
The project focuses on two Special Areas of Conservation: Plymouth Sound & Estuaries and Solent Maritime – Isle of Wight.
Through this project, we will conduct a review of existing evidence and undertake new research with members of the local recreational boating community to further explore and understand the behavioural context. We will develop and test methods for changing behaviours and grow understanding of what works, using behavioural insights, to encourage more responsible boating behaviours, and we will disseminate learning to other sites.
The project commenced in June 2020 and is expected to end in January 2022.
For more information, please contact Dr Clare Twigger-Ross (Technical Director, CEP) or Dr Sian Morse-Jones (Principal Consultant, CEP).