Ecosystem-Based Integrated Ocean Management: A Framework for Sustainable Ocean Economy Development

1. Introduction

1.1. About this report This report examines and makes a case for Eco- system-Based Integrated Ocean management (EB-IOM) as an instrument for developing a sustain- able ocean economy. EB-IOM is defined here as an adaptive approach for governing human activi- ties at sea, rooted in the ecosystem approach, guided by the SDGs, with a strong focus on improving the ecological status of the ocean and on strategic integration across governance, knowledge and stakeholder silos. EB-IOM is a conglomerate of interrelated concepts and management approaches that complement and reinforce each other in many ways, including marine spatial planning (MSP), integrated coastal zone management (ICZM), adaptive management, and systematic conservation planning, among others. EB-IOM brings these together under the umbrella of the ecosystem approach or ecosys- tem-based management (EBM) 1 , on the basis that a sustainable ocean economy can only flourish within ecosystem boundaries, and therefore has to be underpinned by the foundation of a healthy ocean ecosystem. EBM has been discussed in environmental liter- ature and by international environmental bodies for several decades (for example, see chapter 2 in UNEP GPA 2006). At the core of EBM is the rec- ognition of the interconnectedness of ecosystems and of the place occupied by humans and human wellbeing within them. EBM is a holistic approach that requires managers to analyse and address cumulative impacts of multiple human activities on ecosystems, to understand resulting transbound- ary effects as well as medium-and long term eco- system changes, and their knock-on effects on human wellbeing. EBM is generally framed as an adaptive learning process that integrates multiple governance bodies and stakeholders, as well as best available knowledge and science from multi- ple disciplines. Section 3 of this report examines the concept of EB-IOM in more detail, which includes further background on the overarching concept of EBM. The remainder of this introduction provides a brief overview of the current state of the global ocean environment (illustrating how far it is from being in a healthy state) and outlines some of the shortcom- ings of current ocean management and govern- ance practices, focusing on marine areas beyond

national jurisdiction (ABNJ) as an illustrative exam- ple. In doing so, the introduction highlights some of the reasons why a change from the status quo of ocean management is needed. Section 2 discusses where EB-IOM should take us by examining the concept of a sustainable ocean economy, focusing primarily on the SDGs as over- arching strategic goals that should guide EB-IOM and building a rationale for how these should be organized and prioritized in line with the ecosys- tem approach. The remaining sections of the report address the what and how of EB-IOM, moving from the con- ceptual and theoretical level to the applied and empirical level. Section 3 examines EB-IOM as a concept, beginning with the overarching idea of the ecosystem approach and EBM before delving into related ocean and coastal management concepts more specifically, then deconstructing the mean- ing of ‘integration’ in detail. Section 4 outlines the adaptive management cycle as an implementation framework for EB-IOM and describes some of the tools that practitioners can use to support different steps in the cycle. Section 5 examines EB-IOM in practice, discussing the challenges faced by practi- tioners in the real world, and presents a short sum- mary of case studies that illustrate how elements of EB-IOM have been successfully implemented. 1.2. Why is a better approach to ocean management needed? 1.2.1. The state of the global ocean environment The global ocean is the largest ecosystem on the planet. It is vital to the livelihoods and food security of billions, and to the economic prosperity of most countries (OECD 2016). However, there is increas- ing evidence that unsustainable human activi- ties are degrading the global ocean ecosystem, thereby threatening the human wellbeing benefits it can provide, and undermining the foundation for the development of a healthy ocean economy. Climate change is impacting the structure and function of marine ecosystems around the world, including through ocean acidification, increased frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves, rises in sea surface temperature, and a loss of oxygen from waters up to a depth of 1,000 m (IPCC 2019). Erosion from sea level rise and an increased fre- quency of severe weather events are leading to

1 Arguably, ‘ecosystem approach’ refers to a concept, while ‘ecosystem-based management’ refers to the process of its implementation. In practice, however, the two terms are used interchangeably and effectively mean the same thing (UNEP 2011, p.11, PAME 2014, Long et al. 2015).

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