Abstract
The Norwegian integrated management plan for the Lofoten–Barents Sea areas (BSMP) was initiated in 2002 following an international push for implementing ecosystem-based management, as well as a national drive to make new areas available for petroleum exploitation.. Governance of the plan was achieved through an inter-ministerial steering group working through its underlying institutions that have been tasked to work together during both development and implementation. This has achieved a high degree of integration across sectors and between government levels. Having the dual objectives of sustainable exploitation and conservation gives rise to a conflict over whether or not to allow petroleum industry access to the ecologically most valuable and vulnerable areas. There was an attempt at resolving this conflict by acquiring more knowledge, but the conflict is fundamentally a value-based question, which is impossible to resolve by gathering empirical knowledge alone. Nevertheless, the BSMP has been a positive vehicle for increasing the legitimacy of the complex decisions a modern society has to take in the management of ocean resources.
Highlights
The Norwegian integrated management plan for the Lofoten–Barents Sea areas (BSMP) was initiated in 2002 following an international push for implementing ecosystem-based management, as well as a national drive to make new areas available for petroleum exploitation
This paper focuses on the Norwegian Integrated Plan process in general, and on the Barents Sea integrated management plan (BSMP) in particular
The planning process for the BSMP was led by an inter-ministerial Steering Group, chaired by the Ministry of the Environment, with a number of other ministries participating and key decisions being taken at cabinet level in Government
Summary
Beyond the coastal baselines to the 200 nautical mile or median line limit of national jurisdiction (Fig. 1). All Norwegian integrated management plans share a strategic objective to promote economic development by allowing sustainable use, whilst ensuring healthy ecosystems [2,3]. They are built around the same general objectives and development aims, and give direct regulations for the allocation of marine space to the petroleum sector, in addition to setting out targets and aims for the impacts of other economic sectors (e.g. fisheries and shipping) on the ecosystem. In contrast to other spatial plans (MSP), the Norwegian Integrated plans are not based on new MSP-specific legislation The petroleum industry’s push to gain access to new areas further north and closer to shore was the most important driver of the process. This research followed the governance analysis approach and structure developed as part of the MESMA project [7]
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