DURHAM, N.C. – The old balkanized approach to ocean
management, in which different resources and activities are
governed by different laws and administered by different agencies,
has failed to protect ocean ecosystems or reduce conflicts between
ocean users, a panel of international scientists says, and should
be replaced with a more balanced approach using marine spatial
planning.
The panel, organized by scientists from Duke University, will
make its case at a symposium at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, at
this year's annual meeting of the American Association for the
Advancement of Sciences (AAAS) in San Diego.
Marine spatial planning begins with the creation of detailed,
comprehensive maps of a marine area, identifying where and how it
is used by humans and what natural resources and habitats exist
within it.
Coastal communities can then use this information to set
economic, environmental and social goals for that area, and
allocate space within it for different uses, including fishing,
shipping, recreation, conservation, oil and gas development, or
renewable energy production.
"By building comprehensive maps and bringing people together to
plan the future of an ocean space, we can minimize conflicts and
look for ways to maximize benefits," says Larry Crowder, director
of the Duke Center for Marine Conservation. "The result is a fairer
and more effective approach to how our oceans are used –
ensuring that diverse human uses are supported while healthy marine
ecosystems are maintained for all our benefit."
The use of marine spatial planning has gained momentum
nationwide in recent years; there are now active programs in
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Oregon.
In June 2009, President Obama directed 22 U.S. federal agencies
with ocean-related programs to develop "a framework for effective
coastal and marine spatial planning" that addresses conservation,
economic activities, user conflicts and sustainable use of ocean,
coastal and Great Lakes resources. A draft of the framework was
released in December. That month, Scientific American magazine
chose marine spatial planning as one of "20 World Changing
Ideas."
The AAAS meeting is the largest general science conference of
the year. Being invited to present or moderate a symposium at AAAS
is widely viewed as a measure of a researcher's high stature in his
or her field.
The AAAS symposium on marine spatial planning will include
presentations by:
- Larry Crowder, Stephen Toth Professor of Marine Biology at
Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment. He'll discuss the
science and management of coupled social-ecological systems,and
explain why effective ocean management requires us to consider all
elements of an ecosystem – its physical, biological, chemical
and geological attributes, as well as the composition and location
of human communities that rely on it for livelihoods or essential
services. Coupled social-ecological systems provide a useful and
relatively new framework for incorporating these disparate elements
into decision-making.
- Kevin St. Martin, associate professor of geography at Rutgers
University. St. Martin will discuss innovative new techniques he's
developing to map the spatial impacts of ocean users. Understanding
the links between coastal communities and their activities in
specific marine zones is central to a full understanding of the
ecology of ocean ecosystems, he will explain. Being able to
visualize these linkages is essential if we want to incorporate
human factors into marine spatial planning.
- Fanny Douvere, coordinator of the World Heritage Marine
Programme at UNESCO's World Heritage Centre in France. She will
present evidence illustrating that a regional, future-oriented
approach is central to the success of marine spatial planning.
She'll review efforts now under way to incorporate good practices
for marine spatial planning into ocean management practices and
policies at the national and regional levels.
- Mary Turnipseed, a PhD student in ecology at Duke. She'll
discuss how an old legal concept, the public trust doctrine, can
gain new use as a tool for achieving sustainable ocean governance.
The doctrine identifies governments as trustees of certain natural
resources on citizens' behalf. Historically, it's enabled ecosystem
protection at the state level, but hasn't yet been extended to
natural resources strictly under federal jurisdiction, such as
those in ocean waters from three to 200 nautical miles from U.S.
shores. She will explore arguments for including federal public
trust duties in a new national ocean policy.
- Jo Foden, a PhD candidate at the University of East Anglia,
U.K. Foden will summarize recent progress in Europe toward
monitoring and assessing how marine spatial planning supports
national and regional ocean management goals. She will review
current assessment methods being used at local, national,
international and global scales, and show how more explicit goals,
greater consistency in terminology and a clearer approach to
assessment could help consolidate these efforts and simplify future
applications.
- Andrew Rosenberg, senior vice president for science and
knowledge at Conservation International. He will describe the use
of marine spatial planning in Massachusetts and how a diverse
coalition of ocean stakeholders has provided critical, ongoing
support for it. A professor at the Institute for the Study of
Earth, Oceans and Space at the University of New Hampshire, he will
relate the Massachusetts initiative to national efforts to develop
a framework for marine spatial planning through the President's
Ocean Policy Taskforce.
Morgan Gopnik, currently a PhD candidate in marine science and
conservation at Duke, will moderate the symposium. She served for
seven years as director of the Ocean Studies Board at the National
Academy for Sciences, before being appointed senior advisor to the
U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, where she oversaw the writing of
the commission's final report to Congress and the White House. She
subsequently served as senior vice president for programs at The
Ocean Conservancy. In addition to pursing a PhD at Duke, Gopnik is
an independent consultant on ocean management issues to
foundations, association and nonprofit organizations.
Crowder will also make a second AAAS presentation, an overview
of "Next Steps on Marine Spatial Planning," in a symposium at 1:30
p.m., Feb. 21.
SOURCE