Integration is the key: Common Regional Framework for Integrated Coastal Zone Management

Integration is the key: Common Regional Framework for Integrated Coastal Zone Management

COP21 adopted the Common Regional Framework (CRF) for Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) as a strategic instrument capable to facilitate the implementation of the ICZM Protocol. The CRF, that was prepared with support through the Bilateral Cooperation Agreement, provides strategic orientations on how the ICZM Protocol is to be jointly implemented by the Contracting Parties (CPs) using coordinated and harmonized approaches. Namely, it gives orientations for the implementation of ICZM at different geographical scales and administrative levels (from the whole Mediterranean through sub-regional to national/local levels) and details some of the tools and instruments needed for that, such as environmental assessments; monitoring; coordination of planning processes on land and sea; governance mechanisms; land policy, economic and fiscal instruments; training, communication and information activities – all this in a context of international cooperation among CPs with the support of UN Environment/MAP and its Components.

The added value of the CRF is in:

• introducing marine spatial planning (MSP) as a part of the implementation of the ICZM Protocol, as implied in its Art. 3 delineating the geographical scope of the Protocol and defining the coastal zone that includes both the land and the sea;
• clarifying the context in which climate change issues can be effectively addressed with the support of the Barcelona Convention (BC) system i.e. by including adaptation measures into ICZM and MSP plans and strategies;
• screening the existing instruments, provisions and measures (adopted within the BC system but also some of the most relevant world-wide instruments) and providing methodological guidance for their combined use to solve various environmental issues, to reach Good Environmental Status (GES) and ensure sustainability;
• proposing a new Action Plan for the implementation of the ICZM Protocol in 2020-2027.

Why integration?

The adoption of the CRF by the COP 21 will not only facilitate the implementation of the ICZM Protocol and strengthen regional and sub-regional cooperation but it is also meant to enhance synergy and coordination of the entire MAP – Barcelona Convention system and its strategic and policy instruments, which is at the core of the ICZM Protocol.

One of the basic principles of ICZM is the ecosystem-based management to ensure sustainable development and integrity of the coastal zone, its ecosystems and related services and landscapes. The essence of the ecosystem-based management approach is to address the coastal zone as a continuum made of land and sea space, and dealing with the processes that occur in coastal and marine ecosystems and have influence on them in an integrated manner. This approach aims at ensuring sustainable use of natural resources and quality of life of coastal populations, with the focus on the ability to understand and address cumulative risks and effects on the natural world arising from human activities.

ICZM has evolved as the most appropriate approach to manage potential conflicts among various sectoral policies (conflicts over space, resources, infrastructures…), as well as between maritime and terrestrial policies by ensuring coherent governance schemes for planning and management on either land or sea parts of the coastal zone. It maximizes synergies and increases coordinated implementation of sectoral policies with a view to ensuring the integrity of ecosystems, as well as adequately addressing land-sea interactions (LSI) and ensuring the compatibility of land and sea uses by implementing MSP and linking it with ICZM.