Ocean Zoning

Our knowledge of the oceans is increasing rapidly, as more powerful tools for exploration and exploitation make it easier to locate valuable resources, such as fish stocks, oil and gas reserves, or sites for wind and hydropower schemes. Competition for space has intensified, affecting marine life and people's livelihoods. Much has been written about marine protected areas in the past, but MPAs are only a small subset of spatial management tools available. MPAs and MPA networks are now looked at as starting points for more comprehensive spatial management, encompassed in the term ocean zoning. This logical scaling up from discreet piecemeal protected areas to larger and more systematic planning is happening around the world, but few are aware that we are entering a brave new world in ocean management with zoning at its core.Despite the fact that many authorities have been trying to use the ocean zoning tool, little guidance exists on comprehensive ocean zoning. Furthermore, bringing together planning for the purposes of maintaining ecosystems for the services they provide with traditional forms of marine management could be greatly catalyzed by ocean zoning, with a great leap in the efficacy of marine conservation as a result. This book discusses the benefits of ocean zoning in theory, reviews progress made in zoning around the world through a wide range of case studies, and derives lessons learned to recommend a process by which future zoning can be maximally effective and efficient.

Dr Tundi Agardy is Executive Director of Sound Seas, based in the Washington DC area, acts as Director of the MARES Program at Forest Trends, and is Science and Policy Director for the World Ocean Observatory. She is an editor of MEAM (Marine Ecosystems and Management), and has published over a hundred scientific journal articles, reports and book chapters. She previously authored Marine Protected Areas and Coastal Conservation (R. B. Landes, 1997) and led the coastal portion of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.