Nairobi, 8 June 2011
- Declines in marine and coastal ecosystems
due to human activities such as overfishing
and pollution could be reversed if organisations,
communities and other stakeholders
adopt a more integrated approach to managing
coastal environments. Closer partnerships
between different marine users - such as
fishing communities, the tourism industry
and conservationists - can also help coastal
communities become better prepared for natural
disasters and the impacts of global warming,
such ocean acidification and changes in
sea levels.
The recommendations
come in a new publication from the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which
outlines how planners and policy-makers
in local, national and regional governments
can adopt what is known as an ecosystem-based
management (EBM) approach to help ensure
sustainable development for marine and coastal
environments and the many people who depend
on them.
Launched on World Oceans
Day 2011, Taking Steps Toward Marine and
Coastal Ecosystem-Based Management: An Introductory
Guide, explains in simple, accessible language
how sharing knowledge and best practices
across different sectors can make marine
management more effective.
Using over 20 case studies
and success stories, ranging from polar
ecosystems in Antarctica to atolls in the
Indian Ocean, the publication offers guidance
to marine managers towards achieving long-term
sustainability, from initial planning of
how to deal with environmental degradation
to on-site implementation of action plans.
"The future role
of marine and coastal ecosystems in human
well-being depends increasingly on developing
the capacity of countries to manage human
uses and impacts in order to ensure that
ecosystem health and self-repairing capacity
is not undermined", said UN Under-Secretary-General
and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
"Central to a transformational
response to decades of overfishing, pollution
and unplanned urban development will be
moving from sectoral marine and coastal
management to a joined approach that marries
seemingly competing interests", added
Mr. Steiner.
Ecosystem-based management
(EBM) is holistic, integrated approach that
looks at marine and coastal ecosystems as
units with many ecological and social links.
These connections can be numerous and complex,
with disruptions to any part of an ecosystem
- such as changes to habitats or fluctuations
in the population of a species - having
many knock-on effects.
Agricultural run-off,
for example, can pollute rivers or seas,
leading to a decline in plants such as seagrasses
consumed by fish. This, in turn, can lead
to reduced catch for fishing communities
and a resulting drop in prosperity and living
conditions for coastal populations. EBM
uses knowledge of such connections to guide
different uses of oceans and coasts and
to determine policies and priorities for
managing future development.
The value of the natural
services provided by marine and coastal
areas is also a key part of EBM. Food security
through fisheries as well as climate change
adaptation, water purification, storm protection,
tourism and recreation are among the many
ecosystem services provided by healthy oceans
and coasts..
The new UNEP guide highlights
several examples of how determining the
value of ecosystem services has helped improve
marine management.
The UNEP-administered
Mediterranean Action Plan, which brings
together 21 developed and developing countries
to protect the Mediterranean environment,
recently produced an ecosystem services
evaluation for the region. Initial results
found that the total value of fisheries
production, recreation, climate regulation,
erosion control and waste treatment was
26 billion Euro annually. The results will
have a significant impact on regional policy-making,
which is seeking to address, among other
things, the decline of seagrass meadows
and coastal lagoons.
Different pathways to
healthy oceans and coasts
Many aspects of EBM
for marine ecosystems, such as ecosystem
assessments, pollution monitoring or fisheries
management, are already being carried out
by marine and coastal managers across the
world. What sets EBM apart, however, is
its holistic, integrated approach.
Put simply, EBM is all
about managing people - their activities
and interactions with ecosystems and the
services they provide. This could involve,
for example, planning of marine protected
areas in direct dialogue with other sectors
like fisheries and off-shore energy exploration.
In turn, this can provide for broad-scale
healthy oceans rather than isolated 'pockets
of biodiversity'.
The guide cites the
example of California, where, over the past
decade, the US state has rapidly expanded
its system of marine protected areas, through
a comprehensive marine spatial planning
exercise. An example of EBM in action, a
group of NGOs, state bodies and other stakeholders
developed an ocean atlas, which maps the
full range of economic and recreational
uses of the state's waters. An online mapping
tool also provides data on overlapping human
uses relevant to marine protected areas.
Given the success of the project, other
US states have now started to develop their
own atlases using the same approach.
As cross-boundary co-operation
may be required to implement aspects of
EBM, UNEP's Regional Seas Programme, which
covers 18 regions of the world, is uniquely
placed to assist. The programme addresses
the degradation of the world's oceans and
coastal areas by engaging neighbouring countries
in specific actions to protect their shared
marine environment. Initiatives such as
regional action plans (there are currently
14 plans worldwide) can provide a basis
for creating common agendas and building
an EBM approach to sustainable marine development.
EBM approaches are also
being used to tackle marine pollution issues
affecting many countries worldwide. In March
2011, UNEP partnered with the US National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to
hold a major international conference to
address marine debris. Marine experts from
35 countries, governments, researchers,
corporations and trade associations met
to make a new set of new commitments to
tackle the problem of discarded plastic,
industrial waste and other debris in the
world's oceans. The resulting Honolulu Commitment
encourages the sharing of technical, legal
and market-based solutions to reduce marine
debris and to improve local and regional
understanding of the scale and impact of
the problem, while advocating for better
waste management worldwide.
With coastal and marine
ecosystems coming under increasing pressure
from pollution, coastal development, overfishing
and climate change, new, collaborative strategies
are needed to ensure long-term sustainability.
Through shared knowledge, science and best
practices, ecosystem-based management can
help make communities more resilient to
environmental change and ensure an equitable
share of marine resources for all ocean
users.
To download a copy of
Taking Steps Toward Marine and Coastal Ecosystem-Based
Management: An Introductory Guide, please
visit: www.unep.org (See 'Publications')
UNEP Regional Seas Programme: http://www.unep.org/regionalseas/
