International Guidelines forEcosystem-based,Marine Spatial Management

Charles Ehler and Fanny Douvere, ConsultantsIntergovernmental Oceanographic Commissionand Man and the Biosphere ProgrammeUNESCOParis, France

Conference on Marine Spatial Planning

MAP-PAP/RAC and PlanCoast20-22 September 2007Supetar, Croatia

Contents ofPresentation

• Why marine spatial management?

• Why do we need marine spatialmanagement?

• Where is good “practice” of MSMdemonstrated?

• How and when will UNESCOdevelop MSM internationalguidelines?

WorkshopTechnical Report

http://ioc3.unesco.org/marinesp

Selected WorkshopConclusions

Zoning is only one tool of sea usemanagement

Clear (and measurable) managementobjectives are critical

Early and continuing engagement ofstakeholders is essential to success

Monitoring and evaluation are necessarycomponents for adaptive management

Integrating human dimension (socialsciences) requires same diversity ofdisciplines and perspectives asintegration of natural sciences

Benefits of MSP need to be betterdefined

Marine SpatialPlanning

The process of analyzing andallocating parts of three-dimensional marine spaces(ecosystems) to specific uses, toachieve ecological, economic,and social objectives that areusually specified through apolitical process.

Ehler & DouvereVisions for the Future

UNESCO Marine Spatial Planning Workshop,2007

Maes et al., 2005. A Flood of Space

Spatial management is comprised ofrelated elements, all of which mustbe carried out to achieve goals andobjectives

Planning is an integral part of spatialmanagement

Management is a matter of politicaland social choice--stakeholdersinvolvement is critical

Management should be able tofinance on a continuing basis thecosts necessary to achieve its goalsand objectives

Research

Planning

Implementation

Monitoring

EvaluationStakeholderInvolvement

Financing

Elements ofMarine Spatial Management

Outputs ofMarine Spatial Planning

• Marine spatial planning is a sub-activity of the planning functionof sea use management

• The principal output of marinespatial planning is acomprehensive marine spatial planfor a marine area or ecosystem (avision of the future), analogous toa comprehensive plan for aterrestrial area or ecosystem

• The comprehensive marinespatial plan is usuallyimplemented through zoningmap(s), regulations, and apermitting system

• Individual permit decisions canthen be based on the zoningmaps and the marine plan

Sea UseManagement

Planning andAnalysis

MarineSpatial

Planning

OtherManagementMeasures

ComprehensiveMarine SpatialPlan

Ocean ZoningMaps andRegulations

Sea Use Management Plan

Permits and Other Management MeasuresUsed to Achieve Specified Objectives

Zoning WithoutPlanning

• Vessel Traffic Routes• Vessel Traffic Separation Zones &

Precautionary Zones• Areas To Be Avoided (by vessels)• Safety Zones Around Vessels and

Terminals• Anchoring & No-Anchoring Areas• Security Zones in Ports and

Waterways• Oil & Gas Lease or Concession

Areas• Wind Farm and Wave Park Lease or

Concession Areas• Safety Zones Around Oil & Gas

Installations, Wind Farms, WaveParks, etc

• Military Operations or ExerciseZones

• Dredging Sites or Areas

• Designated Dredged MaterialDisposal Areas or Zones

• Oil & Gas Pipeline Rights of Way• Submarine Communications

Cable Rights of Way• Energy Transmission Line Rights

of Way• Sand & Gravel (Aggregate)

Extraction Areas• Fishery Closure Areas, including

seasonal closures• No Trawl Areas• Critical Habitat Designations• Offshore Aquaculture Areas• Marine Protected Areas• Protected Archeological Areas,

e.g., Ship Wrecks• Cultural or Religious Areas• Scientific Reference Sites

New TechnologyFurther and Deeper

• New demands for oceanspace including offshore windand wave energy andaquaculture will competewith existing uses

• New national goals andtargets for renewable energyand food

• Both new and existing uses,e.g., oil & gas, aggregatemining, and dredging will bepossible in deeper and deeperwater

Offshore Aquaculture, Pacific Marine Aquaculture Center, Hawaii, USA

Offshore Wind Farm, Denmark

120-m Pelamis “Sea Snakes”, Orkney Island, Scotland

New Knowledge ofMarine Areas

Northeast USA Vessel Log Data Who Fishes Where? Kevin St. Martin, Rutgers University

Finding Space forNature

• Conserving marinebiodiversity

• Putting the right conservationmeasures in the right places

• Protecting important habitats

• Protecting migrationcorridors and maintainingconnectedness

• Establishing networks ofmarine protected areas

Benefits ofMarine Spatial Planning

• Identifies compatible uses fordevelopment

• Reduces conflicts among usesand users

• Provides greater certainty toprivate sector when it plansnew investments

• Promotes efficient use ofresources and space andreduces impact onenvironment

• Establishes areas ofimportance or sensitivity, andreduces risk of conflict withdevelopment

• Enables biodiversitycommitments to be at heartof marine planning andmanagement

• Ensures space for biodiversityand nature conservation

• Provides context for networkof marine protected areas

Criteria for IdentifyingMarine Spatial Management

Good Practice

• Place-based or Area-based– Large-scale

• Ecosystem-based• Multi-objective

– Including ecological, socio-economic, and governanceobjectives

• Integrated– Across economic sectors– Across government agencies

• Long-term Perspective– 10-20 years

• Adaptive Management– Monitoring and Evaluation

• Participatory

Marine Spatial ManagementInitiatives

2002-2005Irish Sea Pilot ProjectUnitedKingdom

1998-2007Eastern Scotian Shelf IntegratedManagement, 2006-2012

Canada

1993-ongoingTrilateral Wadden Sea PlanNL-DE-DK

1990-ongoingFlorida Keys National Marine Sanctuary &Tortugas Ecological Reserve

United Statesof America

2004-ongoing

2003-ongoing

2003-2005

2002-ongoing

2002-ongoing

1978-ongoing

Spatial Plan for North Sea and Baltic SeaGermany

Integrated Management Plan for North Sea,2015

TheNetherlands

GAUFRE ProjectBelgium

Marine Functional Zoning of Territorial SeaChina

Marine Bioregional PlanningAustralia

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning andRe-Zoning

Australia

UNEP Regional SeasProgramme

1976 Mediterranean Sea1978 ROPME Sea Area1981 Western & Central Africa1982 South-East Pacific1982 Red Sea & Gulf of Aden1983 Wider Caribbean Sea1985 Eastern Africa1986 South Pacific1992 Black Sea2002 North-East Pacific

East Asian SeasNorth-West PacificSouth Asian Seas

1974 Baltic Sea1975 North-East Atlantic1959 Antarctic2003 Caspian Sea

Arctic

In 2004 the Regional Seas Programme agreed topromote a common vision and integrated management, based on ecosystem approaches, of priorities and concerns related to coastal and marine environments.

13 Regional Seas Programmes and 5 “Partner Programmes”

Large Marine EcosystemProgrammes

Baltic Sea (23)Mediterranean Sea (26)Black Sea (62)Bay of Bengal (34)South China Sea (36)Yellow Sea (48)Agulhas Current (30)Benguela Current (29)Canary Current (27)Guinea Current (28)Red Sea (33)Somali Coastal Current (31)Caribbean Sea (12)Humboldt Current (13)Pacific Central American (11)Patagonian Shelf (14)

Large Marine Ecosystems andRegional Seas Programmes

Since the mid-1990s, the Global EnvironmentFacility has provided 121 developing nationswith over $600 million in start-up funding tosupport LME projects

AustraliaGreat Barrier Reef

Marine Park

• Area of GBRMP is 345,000 km2;2300 km in length

• Established in 1975 as multipleuse marine park withconservation as prime objective

• Allows fishing,shipping, tourism,defense, dredging, aquaculture,indigenous hunting, research

• First zoning plan implemented in1988 protecting 5% of park

• Major revision of zoning(Representative Areas Program)in 2004 increased no-take areasto 33%

Florida KeysNational Marine

Sanctuary

• Established by national law in 1990;boundary established in law

• Covers 9,500 km2 of state andfederal waters

• Uses comprehensive managementplan, regulations, and zoning

• Conservation is prime objective; oil& gas prohibited; shippingrestricted

• In 1997 first zoning plan (5 typesof zones) established in a USmarine sanctuary

• Extensive public participation inmanagement process

CanadaEastern Scotian Shelf

Integrated Management

• Planning area of Eastern Scotian Shelfis 325,000 km2

• Developed under authority ofCanada’s Oceans Act of 1997

• Takes objectives-based approach toocean management and uses“collaborative planning” process ofstakeholder and governmentauthorities

• Draft Integrated Ocean ManagementPlan (14 management strategies)released in February 2005

• Plan suggests that spatial planningand zoning could be used asmanagement tools

• Formally recognized as Canada’s firstIntegrated Ocean Management Planunder its Oceans Act

China Territorial SeaMarine Functional

Zoning• Area of Chinese territorial sea is

350,000 km2; length of coastlineis 18,000 km

• Law on the Management of SeaUse passed in 2002; implementedby State Oceanic Administration(SOA)

• Goal is sustainable use of the sea

• Three elements:– establishment of sea use rights– marine functional zoning– user fee system

Provincial-levelMarine Functional

Zoning

• Over two-thirds of zoning plansof 11 coastal provinces,autonomous regions, andmunicipalities have beencompleted

• Emphasis now on– monitoring and evaluating

effectiveness of zoning– adaptation of the sea use plans

and zoning schemes whereappropriate

– improved inter-agency and cross-sector coordination in planning

– strengthening enforcement

Shanghai Marine Functional Zoning

AustraliaSE Regional Marine

Plan

• Covers 2,000,000 km2

• Developed by National Ocean Office,Dept of Environment and Heritage

• Published in 2005; first integratedocean plan under Australia’sNational Ocean Policy (1998)

• Advocated integrated oceanmanagement; nine regionalobjectives and 93 actions to achieveecologically sustainabledevelopment

• No marine spatial planning orzoning proposed, but basisestablished

AustraliaMarine Bioregional

Planning

• Covers all 14,000,000 km2 ofAustralian marine waters

• Prepare marine bioregional plansunder Environment Protectionand Biodiversity Conservation Act

• Developed across five bioregions,including update of South-east

• Excludes Great Barrier ReefMarine Park

• Ongoing, led by Marine andBiodiversity Division, Departmentof Heritage and Water Resources;all plans completed by 2012

EuropeanMarine Spatial Planning

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1. General Use Zone (GUZ)

1A. Minimal Management Zone (MM)

1B. Targeted Management Zone (TM)

2. Conservation Priority Zone (CPZ)

3A. Limited Exclusion (LE)

3B. Significant Exclusion (SE)

4. Protected Zone (PZ)

Proposed Multiple Use Zoning Map for the Irish Sea

3. Exclusion Zone (EZ)

DTI Round 2 RenewableExclusion Zone

Irish Sea Pilot ProjectUnited Kingdom

Integrated Management Plan for the North SeaThe Netherlands

UNESCOMarine Spatial Management

Activities

First International Workshop on Ecosystem-basedMarine Spatial Planning, Paris

November 2006

Submission of 10 scientific papers on MarineSpatial Planning to Marine Policy Journal (specialissue)

September 2007

Visions for a Sea Change: Technical Report of FirstMSP Workshop

July 2007

UNESCO Marine Spatial Planning Websitehttp://ioc3.unesco.org/marinesp

August 2006

UNESCOMarine Spatial Management

Future Activities

Redesign and Update MSM WebsiteApril 2008

Publication of MSM GuidelinesMarch 2009

Evaluation of MSM Guidelines in Two Test SitesOct 2008-Feb 2009

Draft MSM GuidelinesSeptember 2008

Report on MSM Good PracticeSeptember 2008

Moore and Packard Foundation grants to developinternational guidelines

October 2007