Conference: International Conference on Marine/Maritime Spatial Planning, 2nd, Paris, 2017
Corporate author: Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, European Commission. Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
Language: English
Year of publication: 2017
Type of document: Programme and Meeting Document

While the impact of climate change and anthropogenic factors across the Central African coastal zone is not uniform, a new technical report by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) identifies common challenges and calls for a cooperative approach and unified framework for tackling coastal vulnerability in the region.

Marine Spatial Planning (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 have been specified through a political process.

MSP is not an end in itself but a practical way to create and establish a more rational use of marine space and the interactions among its uses, to balance demands for development with the need to protect the environment, and to deliver social and economic outcomes in an open and planned way.