The development of a spatial data infrastructure to support marine spatial planning in Greece

Abstract

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) has been recognized as an essential tool for reducing the increasing pressures on marine and coastal areas (resulting from human activities and competition) and contributing to sustainable development. Therefore, during the last years many countries have initiated MSP processes towards the implementation of Maritime Spatial Strategies and Marine Spatial Plans. However, a prerequisite for the coordinated and effective MSP is the provision of high-quality spatial data to the responsible parties and the public, through appropriate and easy-to-use tools. This can be succeeded by the development of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) that enables the organization of spatial datasets and their distribution through the web. In this paper we propose a development framework and present the actions taken for the implementation of a Marine SDI to support MSP in Greece, and discuss the lessons learned from our so-far experience.