MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING, A NEW MARINE MANAGEMENT POLICY IN IRAN

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) has been increasingly recognized as an efficient tool for sustainable management of marine environment all around the globe. Based onUNESCO (2009) Marine Spatial Planning is the process of analyzing various human activities in the marine areas and zoning them with the aim of achieving ecological,economic, and social goals based on a specific political will. In the course of this analysis, different spatial and temporal variables of human activities are distinguishedand used in the planning process. Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) has certain characteristics as mentioned below: - MSP is an ecosystem-based plan. MSP has specific socioeconomic and environmental goals for sustainable development. - MSP is an integrated plan. This means that MSP strives to create integration among all stakeholders such asgovernmental and private sectors at all levels. - MSP is a spatial plan and is bounded with certain boundaries. - MSP is adaptive. This means that MSP learns from previous experiences and modifies the plan accordingly. - MSP is a strategic plan and is based on long-term goals. - MSP is a participatory plan and tries to involve all the stakeholders in the management process. Marine ecosystem due to the multitude services and resources that provides for human being exploitation, has always been attractive. However, its capacity is less thanthe ever-growing expected demand. Seas from the management viewpoint are considered Common Property Resources and access to them should be open and remainopen for all people. The rate of exploitation of coastal and territorial waters has caused problems such as fish stock reduction, threat to biodiversity, sea water pollution,conflicts among stakeholders, etc. Following a sustainable development process, coordinating human activities, and creating integration among various types of uses in themarine area requires establishment of an ecosystem-based management for wise exploitation of the marine resources. Different types of human activities in marine environmentare summarized in Table (1).