CEFAS23-29 OWEC POSEIDON - LOT 5 (English Channel)

POSEIDON (Planning Offshore Wind Strategic Environmental Impact DecisiONs) is a Crown Estate-funded project (Offshore Wind Evidence & Change program (OWEC)) led by Natural England. The aim of the project is to provide tools to inform offshore wind planning, to minimise impacts on the natural environment through avoidance and early awareness of likely mitigation / compensation needs, allowing sustainable expansion of offshore wind. This will be achieved through the collection of strategic environmental baseline data and updated spatial models for key species (receptors), assemblages, and a suite of ecological metrics (diversity, functional traits). These will be used to identify regions that are most vulnerable to offshore wind impact and mapping of the environmental risk to help guide future offshore wind development rounds and to feed into wider marine planning.