Governing the Land-Sea Interface to Achieve Sustainable Coastal Development

Gerald G Singh,Andrés Miguel Cisneros-Montemayor,Tyler D Eddy,Richard S Cottrell

doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.709947

Abstract

Coastal regions are essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) given their importance for human habitation, resource provisioning, employment, and cultural practice. They are also regions where different ecological, disciplinary, and jurisdictional boundaries both overlap and are obscured. We thus propose the land-sea interface as areas where governance systems are most in need of frameworks for systems analysis to meet the SDGs—which are inherently interconnected— and integrate complex interdependencies between human livelihoods, energy, transport, food production, and nutrient flows (among others). We propose a strategic land-sea governance framework built on the sustainable transitions literature to plan for governance to achieve sustainable development across the land-sea interface. To illustrate our proposal, we compare governance planning processes across four case-based scenarios: an industrialized coastal country, a least developed coastal country, a developing coastal country with local dependencies on ocean resources, and a small island developing state primarily dependent on tourism. Through the lens of aligning governance actors and actions vertically (subnational to national), horizontally (across sectors), and programmatically (from goals to implementation), we propose scales at which governance systems may be misaligned, such as where different agencies that affect marine systems have conflicting visions and goals, leading to stalled progress or counterproductive actions. Where possible, we also highlight strategies to align across scales of high level strategic policy, tactical scale institutional mandates and cooperation, and on the ground activities and operations, such as aligning actors based on an analysis of interdependencies of goals.

Highlights

Coastal systems are home to a large proportion of the world’s population, directly support hundreds of millions of livelihoods, and are the direct link between marine resources and seafood supply chains, especially in coastal countries and island states (Singh et al, 2018; Selig et al, 2019; Lam et al, 2020)
Because coastal systems are so important to people and are so social-ecologically complex, sustainable coastal development is essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Promoting sustainable development at the land-sea interface requires a coordinated governance structure that can effectively regulate and act within complex social-ecological systems. Achieving this coordination requires a systematic framework to align strategic priorities, tactical organization, and operational programming. Such a framework provides opportunities for both researcher and policymakers to engage in the process of sustainable development: for researchers it sets out particular research questions around particular planning scales

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Coastal systems are home to a large proportion of the world’s population, directly support hundreds of millions of livelihoods, and are the direct link between marine resources and seafood supply chains, especially in coastal countries and island states (Singh et al, 2018; Selig et al, 2019; Lam et al, 2020). The Sustainable Development Objective The problems with particular fisheries management programs (operational scale) – namely the enforcement of illegal fishing – was evaluated to look for ways in which institutional roles and collaboration (the tactical scale) and changes to broad policy along the land-sea interface (the strategic scale) could provide solutions (De la Cruz-González et al, 2018). Organizing Institutional Actors in the Tactical Scale and Re-evaluating the Goals of the Strategic Scale to Address Programs at the Operational Scale To understand the causes and potential solutions around this problem, the cooperative partnered with the National Fisheries Institute (INAPESCA, the science branch of the federal fisheries management in Mexico) to undertake research to inform management strategy and coordination This included mapping local oyster beds and analyzing population structures and market dynamics, which led to the implementation of individual daily allowable catches, minimum size limits, bed rotations and seasonal closures. Because none of these issues are within the purview of fisheries management institutions, interfacing across institutions is critical for success and this can build on the SDGs themselves (Singh et al, 2021)

CONCLUSION

Findings

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT