Marine Spatial Planning
Table of Contents
Introduction
What is Marine Spatial Planning?
Marine spatial planning takes into consideration critical and threatened habitats, species that are currently under negative pressure from human activities, in coordination with activities and sectors we intend to continue with.
Examples of Features & Spatial Uses
For example industrial ships may cut through endangered marine mammals breeding grounds, harming them with bilge waste and noise pollution. Marine spatial planning could use mapping and scientific data to help chart routes that would be less impactful and less stressful for those whales.
Spatial planning could prevent wind, wave, or tidal turbines from being placed directly on ocean reefs, of seagrass meadows. The same tourists from swimming or surfing in places that need to be protected or that are particularly dangerous anyway. Similarly, bans on fishing in certain locations can help the seabed recover from decades of bottom trawling. Places that might be too dangerous for swimmers and tourism and less important to wildlife, may however be particularly suitable for energy production.
Threats to Marine Wildlife
Only when we understand the variety of threats facing marine wildlife can we reasonably plan and create spaces that will fulfil the roll of protecting these species.
Marine Noise Pollution
Sound is created via vibrations, and sound is critical to the survival of many marine species including fish and whales who communicate with noises including clicks, whistles, moans, and even singing.
The problem comes from noises that are so loud and disruptive that they prevent wildlife from communicating or using abilities such as echolocation to navigate or find food. Some noises such as those made by motorized boats and ships, as well as seismic blasts from military and energy companies can severely hurt or even kill wildlife.
Water Pollution
Worldwide, water pollution is a growing issue, even in countries that do have water protections are struggling with everything from accidental industrial spills to frequent run off problems from farms and gardens.
Livestock Manure
Not only do livestock outnumber humans, but all together they consume far more food and produce far more waste manure than we do sewage. This manure along with other waste such as that which slaughterhouses dump into waterways, flows down river and creates dead zones, which kill off ocean life.
Similarly aquaculture farms have been dumping disease contaminated, and antibiotic-filled fecal waste on delicate ecosystems including rare glass reefs.
Human Sewage
Many of us take sewage and septic systems for granted, but not everyone has access to these systems, and many of the existing ones are growing old and beginning to fail. Even in countries that have long had sewage systems, urban growth combined with increasingly heavy rains now often overwhelmed the often out-of-date systems
Cruise ships and other vessels routinely dump sewage and trash into our oceans, since it is often cheaper than paying the fines on the occasions they are caught committing these crimes.
Plastic
Since plastic pollution poses such a huge danger to seabirds and marine life, it's important to continue tracking and studying how plastic and other pollutants move out to sea and around on the currents. Organizations have already begun this process, but we can use scientific data to create clean up plans, policies, and interventions. Pollution mapping and tracking could also help conservationists pick conservation sites that are protected or could be protected, vs those that are in the direct pathways of continuous pollution flow. For example some geological spots tend to collect buildups of plastic very quickly to due with wind and water patterns, locations of prolific pollution sources, and even that some geological features can act as traps for plastic, while others might shapes or terrain types might allow pollutants to wash away more easily.
Marine Spatial Planning
Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) "is becoming a key management approach throughout the world. The process includes the mapping of how humans and wildlife use the marine environment to inform the development of management measures. An integrated multi-species approach to identifying key areas is important for MSP because it allows managers a global representation of an area, enabling them to see where management can have the most impact for biodiversity protection. However, multi-species analysis remains challenging. This paper presents a methodological framework for mapping key areas for marine megafauna (seabirds, pinnipeds, cetaceans) by incorporating different data types across multiple species. The framework includes analyses of tracking data and observation survey data, applying analytical steps according to the type of data available during each year quarter for each species. It produces core-use area layers at the species level, then combines these layers to create megafauna core-use area layers. The framework was applied in the Falkland Islands. The study gathered over 750,000 tracking and at-sea observation locations covering an equivalent of 5495 data days between 1998 and 2015 for 36 species. The framework provides a step-by-step implementation protocol, replicable across geographic scales and transferable to multiple taxa. R scripts are provided. Common repositories, such as the Birdlife International Tracking Database, are invaluable tools, providing a secure platform for storing and accessing spatial data to apply the methodological framework. This provides managers with data necessary to enhance MSP efforts and marine conservation worldwide." - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308597X17307790?via%3Dihub
Examples
North America
Gitdisdzu Lugyeks (Kitasu Bay) Marine Protected Area is the first indigenous planned and lead example of marine spatial planning, as the Canadian government continued to pull out of plans, leaving the community frustrated after 20 years of unproductive talks. The area is protected by the Coastal Guardian Watchmen.
How To Improve Marine Spatial Planning
Overhauling Ocean Spatial Planning to Improve Marine Megafauna Conservation
Risk to Animals from Electromagnetic Fields Emitted by Electric Cables and Marine Renewable Energy Devices Understanding the risks these pose to various species and using that information in conjunction with marine spatial planning may be critical for preserving migration routes and healthy wildlife populations.
Existing Protected Ocean Zones
Europe
UK
Existing Marine Conservation Zones (interactive map) "There have been 31 Marine Conservation Zones designated in the Eastern Channel so far, from the chalk reefs of Dover to Deal, to the seagrass beds of Torbay, Devon."
Tools
Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) Toolkit "The MSP toolkit provides practitioners with practical guidance, examples of tools and methods that are necessary for designing and carrying out the MSP process in an LME context."
Organism Tracking
Seabirds
Seabird Tracking Database "is the largest collection of seabird tracking data in existence. It serves as a central store for seabird tracking data from around the world and aims to help further seabird conservation work and support the tracking community. The data are used for seabird research and conservation, by BirdLife scientists and our collaborators around the world."
Maps
Maps are critical for this type of project. Migration maps can help conservationists work out which places need to be protected and which can be made safer during seasonal journeys. Maps that track where injuries and fatalities are most common are also of great value. Each species movements are unique, but this section is intended aid in the planning process.
International
Protected Areas (WDPA) (Interactive) "The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is the most comprehensive global database on terrestrial and marine protected areas."
Aquatic Ecosystems
Living Oceans Collection of maps
Marine Traffic (Interactive) See what types of vessel are at sea, dock or traveling waterways.
Marine Vessel Traffic Tracker (Interactive) See what types of vessel are at sea, dock or traveling waterways.
River Status "Map of the world’s free-flowing rivers. The intensity of blue indicates the length of free-flowing rivers, red the length of impacted rivers." Impact in this case refers to dams weirs, and other physical barriers to aquatic species or even the entire flow of water bodies.
Seminal Study Maps Impacts of Wastewater on Coastal Ecosystems Most of the maps in this link focus only on ocean impacts. One map shows humanity's impacts on both ocean and on-land water bodies.
Oceans
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) "This map is based on electronic tagging of Atlantic bluefin tuna from 1996 to 2007"
Living Oceans Collection of maps
Mapping Global Inputs and Impacts from of Human Sewage in Coastal Ecosystems
Marine Traffic (Interactive) See what types of vessel are at sea, dock or traveling waterways.
Marine Vessel Traffic Tracker (Interactive) See what types of vessel are at sea, dock or traveling waterways.
Ocean Sewage Alliance: Overview global map shows locations of coral as well as sewage impact locations.
Pacific Bluefin "Young Pacific Bluefin Tuna migrate from the spawning grounds off the coast of Japan to the shores of California. The fish make the 5,000 miles (8,000 km) journey at around the age of one and after a few years of feeding and growing they make the exact same trek but in reverse." Map shows spawning area, juvenile routes, maturing fish routes, and post spawner routes.
Protected Areas (WDPA) (Interactive) "The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is the most comprehensive global database on terrestrial and marine protected areas."
Europe
Dam Removal Map Europe (interactive)
Denmark
Analysis of marine protected areas – in the Danish part of the North Sea and the Central Baltic around Bornholm (PDF) contains many maps
UK
Existing Marine Conservation Zones (interactive map) "There have been 31 Marine Conservation Zones designated in the Eastern Channel so far, from the chalk reefs of Dover to Deal, to the seagrass beds of Torbay, Devon."
Go north, and swim fast - New evidence of migration of young salmon leaving Ireland "Until now, it was unknown if juvenile salmon leaving Ireland’s east coast rivers headed around the North or South coasts to get to their oceanic feeding grounds. These first three tracked fish took a northward route from rivers on the east coast to exit the Irish Sea. These salmon also moved offshore quickly, behaving very differently from sea trout, which remained closer to their spawning rivers and swam closer to the coast and river mouths."
Spring Migration Routes of Long-tailed Skuas Stercorarius longicaudus Across and Around the UK "Solid red line shows potential track of an adult male Long-tailed Skua between a point west of Ireland on 27th May 2011 and a location in the North Sea on 28th May 2011"
North America
National Marine Sanctuary System "The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries serves as the trustee for a network of underwater parks encompassing more than 600,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters from Washington state to the Florida Keys, and from Lake Huron to American Samoa. The network includes a system of 15 national marine sanctuaries and Papahānaumokuākea and Rose Atoll marine national monuments."
United States
Critical Habitat for Threatened & Endangered Species [USFWS] - Interactive map. Click on the marked areas to learn which species needs each location for survival.
Eastern North America Migration Highways and Natural Metropolis Map "Here, plant and animal species thrive due to their ability to move and adapt. As the planet warms, these places will be even more important."
National Marine Sanctuary System "The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries serves as the trustee for a network of underwater parks encompassing more than 600,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters from Washington state to the Florida Keys, and from Lake Huron to American Samoa. The network includes a system of 15 national marine sanctuaries and Papahānaumokuākea and Rose Atoll marine national monuments."
Washington State
Organizations
International
The Long Run 🧳 ✈️"is a membership community of nature-based tourism businesses committed to driving holistic sustainability. Our community is global and growing. Each member aspires to maintain a healthy and productive planet for posterity. Collectively, we conserve over 23 million acres of biodiversity and improve the lives of 750,000 people. We support, connect, and inspire nature-based businesses to excel in the highest sustainable standards via the tried and tested 4C framework: Conservation, Community, Culture, and Commerce (4Cs). The Long Run is a programme of Preferred by Nature."
Europe
Dam Removal Europe 🚧 "Rivers have always provided fundamental and vital services for mankind and the environment. However, dams disrupt the natural functioning of rivers and can cause a wide-scale decline in fish and other river wildlife. For these reasons, it is necessary to remove these barriers to return rivers to their natural, free-flowing state."
OSPAR 🌊 👮 "is the mechanism by which 15 Governments & the EU cooperate to protect the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic.
OSPAR started in 1972 with the Oslo Convention against dumping and was broadened to cover land-based sources of marine pollution and the offshore industry by the Paris Convention of 1974. These two conventions were unified, up-dated and extended by the 1992 OSPAR Convention. The new annex on biodiversity and ecosystems was adopted in 1998 to cover non-polluting human activities that can adversely affect the sea.
The fifteen Governments are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
OSPAR is so named because of the original Oslo and Paris Conventions ("OS" for Oslo and "PAR" for Paris)."
North America
Living Oceans: Ocean Planning 🗺️ "Ocean planning is an opportunity for stakeholders to put aside their conflicts and work together to find solutions to create sustainable economies, vibrant communities and healthy oceans. We need a vision to protect the natural abundance of Canada’s oceans and the coastal communities that rely on them so we can manage our use of the ocean without using it up."
Organizations
North America
Canada
BC
Coastal Guardian Watchmen ⚓ 👮 "provide a regional stewardship focus, each Nation monitors and stewards its own territory, carrying on its unique stewardship traditions."
Funding
Europe
Fund your dam removal "Want to remove a ‘ready to go ‘ dam but need extra funding? Try getting your removal crowdfunded!
We collaborate with WWF on their Crowdfunding Campaigns to remove dams! To see if crowdfunding is the right option for you, read below and also have a look here to see what previous campaigns looked like. Below is a list of information we require to help fundraise for your dam removal separated into three phases."
North America
USA
Wildlife Crossings Funding Opportunities "The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was signed into law on November 15, 2021. The law reauthorizes the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, and includes a new pilot program to help states, cities, tribes, and other entities construct wildlife crossing structures that can improve wildlife migration and enhance habitat connectivity, while simultaneously improving driver safety. The new law also amends other federal-aid transportation programs to make them eligible to fund the development of these structures and calls for modernizing the science and research surrounding wildlife corridors and vehicle safety. Interested in learning more about national grants and other Federal, Tribal, and State funding programs that can be used to pay for wildlife mitigation measures, including animal road crossing structures?"
Oceana
Australia
Western Australia
The Landowner Biodiversity Conservation Grants Program "provides financial support to Cockburn residents living in the rural, rural living and resource zones, who wish to conserve and enhance the natural bushland and wetland areas on their property."