ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 introduced the ecosystem approach (EA) as the prevailing framework guiding the development of new approaches to marine planning and management at the present time. However, it highlighted that the application of EA within the marine context poses signifi cant challenges and that a key area in need of further development is the human dimension that is so central to the approach. For example, in line with the holistic perspective of EA, more prominent recognition of the close interrelationship between humans and the environment and between terrestrial and marine areas is required than is so often the case at the present time. Equally, EA emphasizes that managing human activity, rather than the environment itself, must inevitably be the main focus of attention. Th is is particularly so in the marine context where we cannot even attempt to manage
the complexities of the wider ecosystem. Following this logic it is therefore not surprising that Principle 1, put forward by the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in May 2000, states that the objectives of management of land, water and living resources are a matter of societal choice, as they inevitably will entail directing and potentially limiting human activity in some way. Such an assessment suggests that it is important that robust mechanisms are put in place to clearly determine what social, economic and environmental ambitions for the sea actually are, and to tease out the key characteristics of the future marine environment that should be strived for. If this is accepted, then the process of marine planning and management needs to be designed in a way that not only incorporates good science but also, as Principle 12 indicates, eff ective engagement with all relevant sectors of society. Th is is an ambitious agenda for those building new marine planning and management regimes at the present time. However, this chapter argues that they should take heart in the fact that this situation is not entirely new and that much can be gained by refl ecting on the experience of terrestrial planning which has been grappling with similar challenges for more than 100 years.
