The Coastal Dimension of Maritime Spatial Planning

Abstract

Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) is considered a key instrument for the implementation of the EU Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP), which aims to ensure the economic development of coastal and marine areas in a sustainable manner. Coastal zones constitute the “hinge” between land and sea developments, so that MSP must coordinate, and overlap where required, with Integrated Coastal Management (ICM), using a common ecosystem approach. The selection of suitable geographical units, where this approach can be taken, and MSP/ICM applied, requires the assessment of ecological provinces, characterized by a coherent set of environmental traits. Ideally this can be done on the basis of synoptic Remote Sensing (RS) data, to cover space/time scales not accessible by other means. Sample data for the Mediterranean Sea provide examples of the coverage obtainable for a set of complementary ecosystem indicators.