Ocean Planning is Key for a Sustainable Blue Economy

TUESDAY AUGUST 29 2023

Seaweed Farming in Tanzania Picture _ Roshni Lodhia

Two girls doing seaweed farming in Tanzania. PHOTO | ROSHNI LODHIA

By NATURE CONSERVANCY

Coastal economies like Kenya and Tanzania often face difficult choices when it comes to utilising their marine resources. Balancing conflicting current and future needs requires proper planning to guide all economic activities and reap greater benefits.

This is the role that a Marine Spatial Plan plays by convening a broad array of stakeholders to determine together, guided by strong science, how resource use will be balanced and managed across the entire marine space. The driving goal is to ensure that communities around the ocean continue to benefit from it and industrial uses are sustainable and contribute to national economies, all while protecting the environment.

“A Marine Spatial Plan can help us to bypass the challenges that were faced by advanced economies as they grew, which led to conflicts, biodiversity loss, ecosystems and habitat destruction, and other outcomes that counter the very aspirations of economic growth,” says Lucy Magembe, the Tanzania Country Director at The Nature Conservancy.

Ms Magembe explains that now is a good time for African coastal nations to consider where and how to grow a blue economy, the trade-offs that are available and the respective implications.

“For example, should we clear mangroves - the natural storm barriers that protect our multimillion investments along the coast; the supermarkets of the sea that supply a myriad of foods - to create room for hotel development? Could the hotel be built elsewhere, allowing us to reap benefits of both tourism and the many services that healthy mangrove systems provide? Should we plant seaweed in areas considered tourist hotspots? What are the consequences of favouring one over the other or can both be undertaken and in what circumstances?” she argues.

Fortunately, two economies in the region that share the Indian Ocean are at different stages of developing a Marine Spatial Plan. Once complete, the plans will cover all activities in the ocean, including fishing (small scale and deep sea), aquaculture and marine products, seaweed farming, construction of strategic infrastructure for ports and sea transport, seafood and fish processing, oil and gas extraction, beach tourism and water sports.

The Marine Spatial Plan is expected to unlock economic and employment opportunities based on proper management of the environment and dealing with climate change.

Initial steps towards Marine Spatial Planning in Tanzania are at an advanced stage. A pre-feasibility study commissioned by The Nature Conservancy and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation has been validated by ocean users, government officials, development partners, as well as local and international NGOs. The study reviewed the current status of Marine Spatial Planning in the country and the state of policy, legal and administrative frameworks and proposed a roadmap for developing the plan. The pre-feasibility study was funded by the German Government’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety through the International Climate Initiative, as part of a five-year (2021-2025) regional project entitled 'Strengthening the Blue Economy of the WIO through the integration of ecosystem services and effective biodiversity conservation’ covering Tanzania, Kenya, Seychelles, and Mauritius. The project aims to promote and strengthen the protection and resilience of natural marine resources in the Western Indian Ocean, and to strengthen the blue economy.

In 25 countries around the world, Marine Spatial Planning has proven to be a practical approach for engaging communities, stakeholders, and governments to meet conservation goals and improve sustainability of both economic and non-commercial activities.

The planning is a practical way to establish a rational and integrated organization of the marine space, where different uses are addressed to minimize and manage impacts on the system. In developing a sustainable blue economy, the increasing demand for marine space, along with the multiple pressures on marine and coastal resources, requires an integrated approach for utilization and management.

With a plan, it is possible to protect the most vulnerable and critical habitat within marine protected areas and other tools, and by managing commercial activities beyond those core protected areas in a way that allows for sustainable use of resources. Through planning and via improved fisheries management, coastal and offshore fisheries will be sustainable and critical ecosystems, such as coral reefs, mangroves and sea grasses, will be better protected, reducing the rate of degradation of these habitats and resources, mitigating climate change, enhancing local food security and sequestering carbon.