About
Area-based planning and management is an approach that enables the application of planning and management measures to an area/zone which does not necessarily have clearly defined boundaries to achieve a desired outcome. Approaches to area-based planning and management include marine protected areas, marine spatial planning, integrated land-use planning, Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), ridge-to-reef, and source-to-sea, among others.
Coastal and marine resources contribute significantly to the economy, yet healthy and productive ecosystems are required to support the implementation and delivery of Sustainable Development Goal 14 and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda as a whole.
As countries adapt to the impacts of climate change, such as storm surges and rising sea levels, it is increasingly evident that enhancing coastal resilience is paramount for protecting the lives and livelihoods of coastal communities in developed and least developed countries, particularly in Small Island Developing States. Effective area-based planning and management, nature-based solutions and other ecosystem-based management approaches can significantly contribute towards achieving this.
Why does it matter?
With some 40 per cent of the world’s population living within 100 km of the coast, productive landscapes and seascapes, including freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems of importance to both biodiversity conservation and human livelihoods, are being degraded and lost.
Due to intensifying human development and other anthropogenic drivers of ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss, including pollution and other destructive activities, and exacerbated by climate change, the crucial role that water-related ecosystems play in providing nature-based solutions (such as blue carbon) and natural protection is undermined. To help humans brace for the impacts of climate change, coastal areas must be conserved or restored to ecologically functional states to continue to serve as natural buffers between the ocean and land.
Growing competition for water and other natural resources, and the complexity of crises faced, invite holistic and integrated governance approaches that can tackle evolving demands and, at the same time, meet ecosystem and water security needs. Accounting for the vast environmental, social, and economic challenges faced by coastal communities and resources, area-based planning and management stresses upstream and downstream water-related environmental, social, and economic linkages and stimulates coordination across sectors to generate integrated, coherent policymaking and practices.
New multilateral agreements have been negotiated, like the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (“BBNJ Treaty”), adopted in New York on 19 June 2023. This agreement will establish a new, legally binding decision-making platform in the high seas under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Among major outcomes, the treaty establishes procedures for establishing large-scale marine protected areas in the high seas; establishes benefit-sharing arrangements for the use of marine genetic resources; facilitates capacity building and the transfer of marine technology between the parties; and sets clear rules for conducting environmental impact assessments. The agreement will enter into force 120 days after the 60th nation ratifies it.
What we do
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) aims to address fragmented sectoral approaches to water and natural resources management that have led to unsustainable use, resource extraction, and the degradation of freshwater, marine, and coastal ecosystems and their ecosystem services. By applying area-based approaches, including marine spatial planning, ICZM, IWRM, ridge-to-reef and source-to-sea to implement holistic management of ecosystems and transboundary water and natural resources, UNEP enables more effective conservation, restoration, and protection to address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, maximize economic and social welfare in an equitable manner. This includes supporting adaptive governance approaches that increase the integrity of healthy ecosystems across local, national and regional contexts.
Emphasizing the critical importance of integrated policy and governance across the water continuum, UNEP supports Member States by delivering governance and monitoring expertise to systematically address drivers of ecosystem degradation while also building their capacity to catalyse positive action through integrated evidence-based approaches.
UNEP supports coordination among 18 Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans (RSCAPs) across the world and administers 7. RSCAPs offer legal frameworks and intergovernmental forums for dialogue and coordination to strengthen countries’ capacity to protect, manage, and develop the marine and coastal environment and to address issues such as disaster reduction, climate change adaptation, and sustainable consumption and production.
Initiatives, networks & centres collaborating with UNEP
- United Nations Environment Assembly Resolution 5/5 Nature-based Solutions for Supporting Sustainable Development
- United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
- Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (A/RES/77/321)
- Regional Seas Conventions & Action Plans
- Oceans and the Law of the Sea (United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/77/248)
- United Nations General Assembly Resolution 76/212 Strengthening cooperation for integrated coastal zone management for achieving sustainable development.
