IORA Marine Spatial Planning in the News

Описание: Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) as a comprehensive knowledge process assists in formulating coordinated policies to the sustainable utilisation of marine resources in energy, industry, environment and recreation for economic development.

The Blue Economy initiative is also complemented by the integration of MSP developments, filling the knowledge gap in the process being implemented by Member States towards utilising ocean resources in a sustainable manner.

The IORA Indian Ocean Conference on Marine Spatial Planning was inaugurated by The Rt. Hon. Sir Anerood Jugnauth, GCSK, KCMG, QC, Minister Mentor of Defence, and Minister for Rodrigues in Mauritius on November 22, 2017. In his inaugural address he stated that “the Ocean Conference on Marine Spatial Planning had become an imperative as there has been during recent years a sharp increase in economic activities throughout the Maritime Zones of most IORA countries, which has led to an increase in the demand for marine space.”

The IORA Indian Ocean Conference on Marine Spatial Planning was jointly hosted by IORA and the Ministry of Defence and Rodrigues of the Republic of Mauritius. Participants from 15 IORA Member States, 3 Dialogue Partners and International Experts from Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Carnegie (India), The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE-2 , India), Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-Perth), Under Water Cultural Heritage (UWCH) – Stanford University, National Marine Functional Zoning Expert Committee (NMFZEC, China) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) attended the conference to discuss existing MSP developments within the Indian Ocean Region. This was also a platform to explore and discuss the potential of MSP for IORA Member States.

The conference topics chosen for the Marine Spatial Planning – Towards Sustainable Use of the Indian Ocean included: Marine Spatial Planning and SDG14: Experiences and Best Practises from IORA Member States; Regional and global perspective on integrating Marine Spatial Planning and ecosystem-based approaches to the sustainable development of the Ocean Economy and Data collection and initiatives under the Second International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE2).

IORA Secretariat

Video Credits to the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation - English News on 22 November 2017