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Marine Planning Benefits the Environment
Citation:
Cicchetti, G. Marine Planning Benefits the Environment. Proceedings of the Marine Safety & Security Council, the Coast Guard Journal of Safety at Sea. U.S. Coast Guard, ARLINGTON, VA, 70(3):23-27, (2013).
Impact/Purpose:
This article describes the essential elements of Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) and Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) as written in the “Final Recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force”, adopted by Executive Order 13547 in 2010. The paper discusses possible applications of CMSP and EBM for long-term planning, with a particular focus on reducing the impacts of cumulative stressors, and is intended to inform the Coast Guard “Proceedings” readership as well as the general public.
Description:
Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) and Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) are management approaches that allow sustainable coastal and ocean planning. The basic unit of management under CMSP is a large region, with the United States coastlines and Great Lakes divided into nine such Regions. Both CMSP and EBM promote the development of long-term Regional goals, driven by input from all involved managers together with the public, scientists, and stakeholders from all backgrounds, including transportation, industry, fishing, tourism, energy, security, and more. These goals are tied to a vision of a desired future for the planning area. Looking into the future, a major environmental issue is the cumulative damage done by multiple stressors, e.g., nutrient pollution, sea level rise, land development, and fishing pressure. CMSP and EBM offer a coordinated management framework together with tools to evaluate the damaging effects of cumulative impacts on our environment. CMSP and EBM are intended to help managers sustain both healthy environments and healthy economies in the foreseeable future.
