Report offers guidance on maximizing socioeconomic benefits of marine planning
A new report commissioned by the UK government analyzes the socioeconomic processes at work in England's coastal communities, and sets a framework for considering these processes in the country's upcoming marine planning process. The purpose is to inform planners of the relative socioeconomic benefits associated with marine activities, including broad recommendations on which activities might fit most readily with different areas of the coast.The report concludes that socioeconomic benefits are likely to be greatest when marine planning works effectively with terrestrial planning and economic development activity. That is, marine planning should inform terrestrial planning, and vice versa. "There is a role for using marine planning to accentuate local distinctiveness and inform development strategies," states the report. It was commissioned by the Marine Management Organisation, a UK government body created to implement the nation's new marine planning system. Maximising the Socio-Economic Benefits of Marine Planning for English Coastal Communities is at www.marinemanagement.org.uk/marineplanning/se.htm.
Report: Cases of good coastal management practice
A new publication provides case studies of a diverse set of 17 coastal management initiatives from across the Pacific region, ranging from local to regional scales of action. The initiatives all feature elements considered as good practice in coastal management:
- They are locally and culturally appropriate;
- They are suited to national institutional structure and capacity;
- They are supported by evidence of effectiveness or are considered to have a high likelihood of success;
- They are cost-effective; and
- They are potentially applicable elsewhere.
The report Good Coastal Management Practices in the Pacific: Experiences from the Field was published jointly by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), and is available at http://bit.ly/goodcoastal.
Committee gives advice on integrating MPAs in US marine spatial planning
The US Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee has released recommendations on integrating the National System of Marine Protected Areas within the country's Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) Initiative, which is underway. The recommendations address:
- What role the national MPA system should play within the CMSP Initiative;
- What steps are needed to ensure that conservation is sufficiently addressed within regional coastal and marine spatial plans; and
- How decision support tools and conservation planning processes that have already been used to develop the national system of MPAs can be incorporated in spatial planning.
Notably, the advisory committee recommends that the CMSP Initiative should include identifying and protecting ecologically and culturally important areas. The MPA Federal Advisory Committee recommendations on MPAs and coastal and marine spatial planning are available at www.mpa.gov.