Posted by Will Ramos on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 11:22 am

Filed under: Action, Headline, News & Resources, Policy

President Obama charged the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force with recommending a framework for effective coastal and marine spatial planning by December 2009.

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is a future-oriented, adaptive, science-based tool that requires fundamental understanding of physical, biogeochemical and ecological patterns and processes and human interactions in the ocean; the ability to observe and measure these characteristics; and finally the capability to forecast these conditions. Successful management of the marine environment needs to be based on the best available science and will require continual information gathering to establish baselines, monitor ecosystems, and evaluate the efficacy of marine spatial plans. These tasks are essential to wisely plan for sustainable resource use into the future.

Ocean Leadership’s Science Requirements for Marine Spatial Planning paper focuses on the science required to support the marine spatial planning process that will likely occur throughout state coastal waters and the U.S. exclusive economic zone. Ocean Leadership worked closely with its member institutions to develop this concise description of the science requirements and specific recommendations for MSP which have been submitted to the Ocean Policy Task Force for their consideration.

Download document: Science Requirements for Marine Spatial Planning (Adobe PDF)