What is MSP? What does it entail? Why is it needed and what are the benefits of having it in place? 

MSP is a “public process of analyzing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives that are usually specified through a political process” (Ehler & Douvere, 2009).

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MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING

The emergence of MSP is usually ascribed to the increasing intensity of maritime use, exceeding the capacity of marine areas to meet all demands simultaneously. Access to marine space is usually not restricted, potentially leading to overuse and conflicts

Marine/maritime spatial planning (MSP) is about managing the distribution of human activities in space and time to achieve ecological, economic and social objectives and outcomes. It is a political and social process informed by both the natural and social sciences. Over the last 20 years, MSP has matured from a concept to a practical approach to moving towards sustainable development in the oceans. Integrated marine spatial plans have been implemented by about 20 countries, and it is expected that by 2030, at least a third of the surface area of the world’s exclusive economic zones will have government-approved marine spatial plans (Ehler 2017).

The imperative for employing a multidisciplinary approach stems from the nature of marine space as a multi-dimensional concept requiring insight from many scientific disciplines and types of knowledge (Ansong et al. 2018).

The definition of what exactly constitutes maritime space, and therefore the object of planning efforts, is a key challenge for spatial approaches to management. Where does the use of land affect the sea and the use of the sea affect the land? As each affects the other to some extent, is their separation in MSP not merely an artificial exercise? Similarly, ecological or cultural marine spaces may easily extend across land and water, giving rise to complex administrative and political questions.

The ecosystem-based approach to marine spatial governance has been proposed as a central tool for achieving this overarching goal (see e.g. Carneiro 2013; Jay 2012; Douvere 2008; Gilliland and Laffoley 2008), but this poses new questions as to how to combine sustainable use of natural resources and the preservation of ecologically valuable species and habitats (Hassler et al. 2017).

Despite the various differences highlighted above, there are many common denominators for MSP in Europe and also beyond. It is beyond doubt that spatial planning of sea areas:

• concerns four-dimensional maritime space (the sea surface and the lower part of troposphere above it, the water column, the sea bottom and the subsoil beneath it);

• encompasses both space and time;

• aggregates individual human preferences in relation to marine space by a process of public choice (although at times this choice is deficient in terms of uneven balance of power, see also Chap. 9 in this volume);

• concerns human activity and its consequences;

• is integrated (at least by definition); • refers to the sea as a functional ecosystem;

• influences market processes at sea;

• requires transnational coordination within sea basins;

• requires coordination and connection with spatial planning on land;

• is conducted in a continuous and adaptive manner encompassing monitoring and evaluation;

and

• employs—as best as it can—available research and information.

MSP will continue to face challenges. At a practical implementation level, a key challenge is that MSP requires authority in order to be effective, which takes time to establish. Added to this is the fact that MSP is rarely free, but requires the allocation of (often scarce) government funds. Moreover, MSP usually requires painful decisions related to various trade-offs and this might decrease its acceptance. Win-win situations are rare in contemporary MSP. Methodological challenges are likely to arise from different practices of MSP, not least from evaluating them in order to assess the actual benefits of MSP. Also planning culture and experience varies among countries. Is MSP worth the effort, and what kind of MSP yields which benefits to whom, how and when? Is it possible to generalise or is effective MSP always context-specific? Another challenge is that MSP does not occur in isolation but requires transnational cooperation—which may not be an easy feat in times of increasing international strife and competition. Climate change is likely to pose its own challenges, related for example to adaptiveness of marine/maritime spatial plans but also linked to geo-strategic issues, such as exploitation of the Arctic. Interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary efforts are required for successfully addressing these and other issues, requiring the expertise of a wide range of scientists and practitioners today and in the next generation.

Reference

Maritime/Marine Spatial Planning at the Interface of Research and Practice: Charles Ehler, Jacek Zaucha, and Kira Gee (Chapter 1, in Jacek Zaucha • Kira Gee Editors Maritime Spatial Planning past, present, future (2019)). Open Access. 496p.