marine spatial planning

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a public process of analysing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives, applying to the sea the planning methodologies long used in terrestrial land use management; marine spatial planning addresses the conflicts and synergies between competing uses of ocean space — shipping lanes, wind farms, fishing grounds, aquaculture, cable routes, marine protected areas, tourism, and military exclusion zones — seeking to reduce conflicts, improve sustainability, and support integrated ocean management; the approach has been adopted by the European Union under its Maritime Spatial Planning Directive and is promoted by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission as a tool for implementing integrated coastal and ocean management; effective marine spatial planning requires comprehensive data on the distribution of ecosystems, habitats, and human activities, robust stakeholder engagement with the diverse communities that depend on the sea, and enforceable legal frameworks for managing the agreed spatial allocations