Science and policy

Global governments have come to recognise and acknowledge that an integrated approach to coastal and marine policy and management in order to govern human actvity is necessary to maintain biodiverse marine ecosystems. This approach to policy and management requires integration rather than simply coordinating policy, planning and management across the coastal and marine interface (Wescott 2012). With just over a third of the global pupulation living along the coastal zone (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment [MA] 2005), it is necessary to consider how natural and political boundaries, economic, social and environmental seascapes integrate concurrently for coastal and marine policy planning and implementation. This is because human activities take place on a continuous gradient across interconnecting catchmenrt, coastal and marine ecosystems, where resource use as diverse as agriculture in coastal marshland and offshore non-renewable energy extraction have to be considered (MA 2003).