Regional Marine Spatial Planning: A Tool for Greening Blue Economy in the Bay of Bengal

Abstract

The Bay of Bengal (BoB) region is under severe threat of marine pollution because of unsustainable management of human activities for the exploration of marine resources. The emergence of the concept of Blue Economy fuels the coastal states to explore more marine resources that will cause much more marine pollution in the region. Therefore, a balance between the exploration and conservation of marine resources is essential for the prevention of unsustainable use and marine pollution. Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) may be a tool for the balance between exploration and conservation of the marine resources in the BoB region. This balance approach will also facilitate to develop a sustainable Blue Economy for the coastal states of the Bay region through sustainable management and use of the marine resources. However, the current regional legal arrangements for management of ocean resources of the BoB do not provide any explicit provisions for the development of MSP in the Bay region. The current regional conventions, agreements, declarations, organisations, programmes and plans have different provisions for management of the marine resources of the BoB. Those legal regimes have several provisions that are relevant and cover different aspects of MSP. However, the current regional arrangements for the management of marine resources are not adequate for the development of MSP for sustainable use and prevention of marine pollution in the BoB. This inadequacy has significantly impacted the objective of sustainable Blue Economy in the Bay region. A uniform agreement among the coastal states is essential to develop a regional MSP in the BoB region. Development of MSP in the BoB will be an effective tool for greening the Blue Economy by sustainable use and protection of the marine environment in the Bay region.