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Watershed Planning within a Quantitative Scenario Analysis Framework
Published on: July 24, 2016
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Cumulative impact assessment for ecosystem-based marine spatial planning
Linus Hammar1, Sverker Molander2, Jonas Pålsson1
1Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, Gothenburg, Sweden.
The Science of the Total Environment
|May 29, 2020
Summary
Marine spatial planning (MSP) can reduce cumulative environmental impacts by integrating ecosystem protection into decision-making. A new scenario component in Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) supports this by projecting impacts of different planning alternatives.
Area of Science:
- Marine spatial planning
- Ecosystem-based management
- Environmental impact assessment
Background:
- Increasing ocean space claims conflict with marine ecosystem health due to human pressures like pollution and overfishing.
- Ecosystem-based marine spatial planning (MSP) is a global strategy to balance competing sector interests with environmental protection.
- Marine planners require effective decision support tools to achieve the dual goals of economic development and environmental conservation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To enhance the Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) model with a scenario component for projecting environmental impacts within MSP.
- To integrate environmental considerations more effectively into strategic decision-making for marine spatial planning.
- To assess the potential of MSP to reduce net cumulative environmental impacts in marine ecosystems.
Main Methods:
- Developed and integrated a scenario component into the existing Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) model.
- Applied the enhanced CIA model within the Swedish ecosystem-based marine spatial planning (MSP) process.
- Analyzed projected environmental impacts for various planning alternatives in the North Sea and Baltic Sea.
Main Results:
- The scenario-enabled CIA model successfully projected environmental impacts of different planning alternatives.
- Results from Swedish MSP demonstrate that MSP can lower net cumulative environmental impact when environmental values are prioritized.
- The CIA model synthesizes complex data into decision support, informing planners of likely environmental consequences of MSP options.
Conclusions:
- Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) with a scenario component enables practical ecosystem-based marine spatial planning (MSP).
- MSP has the potential to mitigate cumulative environmental impacts, provided environmental values are prioritized and pressures are managed within the planning framework.
- This approach strengthens the integration of environmental considerations into strategic marine management decisions.
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