ABSTRACT
Th is chapter explores the delivery of ecosystem goods and services by the marine environment and the role of marine planning and management in protecting this as a key economic resource. It has been written in the context of increasing threats to the marine environment and the calls for ‘new forms of governance’ (for example, by the European Commission, EC, 2007) in science-policy relations that are required for the sustainable management of the world’s marine environments (Plasman, 2008; Fritz, 2010), by seeking to translate the innate value of marine ecosystems in terms of utility to human society. Th is chapter begins with a consideration of what constitutes ecosystem goods and services. It then considers the scale and value of marine ecosystem goods and services in the UK. Th e role of the marine ecosystem processes in delivering valuable goods and services is briefl y described and the major pressures on them are itemized. Th e possible planning and management response to these pressures and the use in protecting marine ecosystem services is then discussed.
