Abstract
One of the great challenges faced due to current human demands is to reconcile the conservation of the innumerable natural resources present in the marine realm with the intense development processes occurring in the coastal zones. The latter aspect includes Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), an important management tool created to establish a more rational organization of the use of marine and coastal areas, equalizing the demands of development with the need to protect these ecosystems. Some of the most important international organizations — the European Union, OSPAR, HELCOM/VASAB, and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) — are encouraging MSP at a national level. Another efficient tool is Ecosystem-based Management (EBM), which allows a full arrangement of interactions within the marine realm and effectively integrates science and governance for the management of natural resources. This work aims to propose an integrated analysis methodology using an EBM approach that encompasses environmental variables and current and potential uses, contributing to the implementation of marine spatial planning for the inner continental shelf surrounding the Patos lagoon estuary. Datasets were used to produce the thematic maps, such as surface sedimentology, location of the ecologically important submerged features, occurrence of mineral resources and zoobenthic fauna, with trophic importance and/or endangered. A sedimentological map was initially drawn; it was possible to observe the predominance of fine sand sediments between the coastal zone and the 50 meter isobaths, together with some coarse and medium quartzose sand and shell gravel deposits. The identification of these sedimentological patterns is fundamental in the understanding of the benthic communities, in addition to creating subsidies for the conservation of species. The present study proposes the creation of zones for exclusive use and multiple-use based on the surveys and mapping of the environmental and socioeconomic features of the region.
Highlights
Marine and coastal ecosystems are considered habitats10 Ecosystem-Based Marine Spatial PlanningAn Approach to Marine and Coastal Area Management in Southernmost Brazil with complex interactions, providing ecologic, economic, and cultural benefits, as well as being the most productive and dynamic ecosystems around the globe [1,2]
Growing awareness and formalization of the ecosystem approach emerged as a result of international environmental agreements in the United Nations framework, a fundamental description of this approach was formalized for the first time in the 1972 Stockholm Declaration [7]
Taking into consideration the environmental characteristics detailed in these maps above and the economic activities present in the surrouding inner continental shelf of the Patos lagoon, this study proposes zoning for these activities (Fig. 5)
Summary
An Approach to Marine and Coastal Area Management in Southernmost Brazil with complex interactions, providing ecologic, economic, and cultural benefits, as well as being the most productive and dynamic ecosystems around the globe [1,2]. Marine spatial planning (MSP) is an important management tool created to establish a more rational organization of the marine and coastal areas, equalizing the demands of development with the need to protect these ecosystems. Ecosystem-based management (EBM) is a methodological approach that emerged in the 1990s with the work of [4] and [5]. In the case of the marine environment, EBM is defined as an environmental management tool that recognizes the complete set of interactions within this realm including human activities, rather than considering only ecological issues, species, or services in an isolated way [6]. Growing awareness and formalization of the ecosystem approach emerged as a result of international environmental agreements in the United Nations framework, a fundamental description of this approach was formalized for the first time in the 1972 Stockholm Declaration [7]
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