The Ecosystem Approach to Marine Planning and Management

Description

The marine environment is one of our most precious yet fragile natural resources. It provides a wide range of essential goods and services, including food, regulation of climate and nutrient cycling, as well as a setting for transport, recreation and tourism. This environment is however extremely complex and very sensitive to development pressures and other forms of human influence. Planning and management of the sea are similarly complicated, reflecting intricate legal, institutional and ownerships patterns. This creates a situation where marine ecosystems are vulnerable to over-exploitation or neglect. The Ecosystem Approach to Marine Planning and Management describes how growing concern about the state of our seas is resulting in the development of new approaches to marine planning and management. For example, the United Nations Environment Programme has called for the widespread introduction of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), and the European Union has recently been consulting on a new European Maritime Policy designed to stimulate economic growth but at the same time protect the resource base. Within the United Kingdom, the 2010 Marine Act draws upon the experience of town and country planning and brings into being a new system of Marine Spatial Planning. The authors show that a common feature of all these developments is an appreciation that more integrated forms of planning and management are required for our seas and that new arrangements must draw together understanding from natural science, social science and many other perspectives. Adopting such a trans-disciplinary and holistic (or 'ecosystems') approach, the book distils the expertise of these different disciplines and seeks to promote a broader understanding of the origins and practicalities of new approaches to marine planning and management.

Sue Kidd is a senior lecturer in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Liverpool, UK. She is a chartered town planner with research interests in integrated spatial planning with particular reference to coastal and marine areas. She has led the development of the University's new MSc in Marine Planning and Management and is currently chair of the Irish Sea Marine Conservation Zones Project which is establishing a new network of marine nature conservation designations. Andy Plater is a Professor of Physical Geography in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Liverpool. His research interests include coastal geomorphology, climate change impacts and management of ecosystem services. He is acting director of SWIMMER - The Institute for Sustainable Water, Integrated Management & Ecosystem Research which undertakes interdisciplinary research in collaboration with the end user community. Chris Frid is a Professor of Marine Biology and head of the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Liverpool. His research focuses on the factors influencing marine ecosystem dynamics including human impacts. He has led several projects which have developed an ecosystem approach to the management of the marine environment including the European Fisheries Ecosystem Plan (EFEP) for the North Sea.

'Clear and comprehensive description of the ecosystem approach as a conceptual framework and its use in guiding marine planning and management. Sets out how to develop adaptive approaches to accommodate change, using practical examples from the UK and overseas' James Marsden, Director Marine, Natural England 'Ecosystem services provide the fundamental base for a sustainable economy, and for addressing the consequences of anthropogenic and natural drivers like climate change and habitat fragmentation. This text provides a fascinating overview of the challenges we face in marine ecosystem management and how these can be addressed in an interdisciplinary framework and with the help of methodological pluralism.' Pushpam Kumar, Chief, Ecosystem Services Economics Unit, UNEP, Nairobi 'This book is a valuable addition to recent texts on spatial planning and the ecosystem approach to marine management, providing a transdisciplinary, European outlook in clear language. The strong relationship between human societies and the sea, and hence the need to engage all relevant sectors of society in decision making, are stressed throughout. It is a stimulating read for experts in relevant fields for further enhancing their understanding of the EA to marine management and for exploring the challenges ahead' Prof. Erdal Uzhan, President, Mediterranean Coastal Foundation (MEDCOAST)