Critical Marine Habitats (OI3846)

This metric is intended to capture whether marine and coastal spaces under the organization’s control or use, whether direct or indirect, include important marine habitats for species.

Datasets on important marine and coastal habitats and species can be applied to support decisions during biodiversity risk screening or to identify conservation and restoration opportunities.

The Ocean Data Viewer by Ocean+ (see https://data.unep-wcmc.org/ and https://oceanplus.org/) includes various spatial datasets, such as the distribution of coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrasses, as well as distribution of marine mammals and even feeding and nesting sites for marine turtles.

Investors are strongly encouraged to contextualize their projects – and ideally select projects – based on broader, country- or region-level biodiversity and landscape assessments focused on site irreplaceability. Viewing biodiversity through the lens of a systematic conservation plan enables more efficient, impact goal-oriented management decisions.