The Scope of Marine Spatial Planning and Integrated Coastal Zone Management

Marine environment is home to a rich biodiversity and long supported tradition of economic activities. Although we have used it for thousands of years, its importance to society, to life on Earth, as we know it today, goes far beyond what we imagined. 

In this context, marine planning emerged in the seventies as a response to the interest of the States in the establishment of Marine Protected Areas. The best example in this regard is the Australian Great Barrier Reef Park. Today, the rapid growth that marine planning is undergoing is due to the interests of energy production, namely the rise of offshore-wind farms. These interests are the main underlying reasons for the marine spatial planning efforts undertaken in regions as diverse as Germany, the UK, Belgium or the U.S.  Read more>>>>>>>>>>>>