Industry representatives at the Sustainable Ocean Summit (SOS) in June 2010 identified marine spatial planning as a priority for the World Ocean Council's efforts to catalyze private sector leadership in ocean stewardship, reports www.megafishnet.com with World Ocean Council. The World Ocean Council (WOC) will develop materials and workshops to assist the diverse ocean business community to become familiar with, and engaged in, marine spatial planning (MSP). These efforts will build on the WOC's international MSP seminar for industry, which was held at the SOS - an unprecedented cross-sectoral conference on ocean sustainability that attracted more than 150 business leaders from a wide range of industries. The need for the ocean business community to better understand and engage in MSP has become even more urgent due to the Executive Order signed by President Obama on 19 July 2010, adopting the Final Recommendations of the U.S. Ocean Policy Task Force. The Task Force calls for the establishment of a national ocean policy council and the implementation of coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP) through a series of nine regional planning programs. CMSP is defined by the Task Force as "a comprehensive, adaptive, integrated, and transparent spatial planning process, based on sound science, for analyzing current and anticipated uses of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes areas. CMSP identifies areas most suitable for various types or classes of activities in order to reduce conflicts among uses, reduce environmental impacts, facilitate compatible uses, and preserve critical ecosystem services to meet economic, environmental, security, and social objectives". CSMP seeks to move sea use planning "away from the current sector-by-sector, statute by statute approach" according to the Task Force information. Proactive, constructive and coordinated participation in CMSP by an informed ocean business community is critical to its success. The WOC, as the cross-sectoral industry leadership alliance on ocean stewardship, can help ensure the planning process includes both the systematic and comprehensive involvement of a diverse range of ocean industries as well as the use of credible science and risk assessment. Working with its members and other partners to build on the recent MSP seminar, the WOC will develop information and materials to foster private sector familiarity with ocean use planning for industries worldwide. As the CMSP process rolls out in the U.S., the WOC will convene cross-sectoral ocean industry workshops in the marine planning regions. These meetings will bring together the range of ocean sectors active in the region to facilitate understanding and involvement in the newly mandated ocean planning process. |
