The history of human is thoroughly interlaced with the ocean. Human-ocean relation has been guiding the philosophy, geography, military studies, navigation and seafaring, natural sciences, political sciences, and social sciences. Such relation has been featured in the various fields of art, literature, and music for millennia. Maritime planning is a relative newcomer in this long list of disciplines, bringing its very own standpoints and epistemologies. While the Bangladesh is being ready to achieve the status of a developed country, it has become a necessity to utilise the ocean resources of the Bay of Bengal by sustainable planning and management. Although it is relatively a new concept, Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) should be the first priority in exploring and exploiting ocean resources.
What is MSP?
MSP is roughly managing the distribution of human activities in space and time to achieve ecological, economic and social objectives and outcomes. It is a political and social process informed by both the natural and social sciences. Over the last 20 years, MSP has matured from a concept to a practical approach to moving towards sustainable development in the oceans. Integrated maritime spatial plans have been implemented by about 20 countries, and it is expected that by 2030, at least a third of the surface area of the world’s exclusive economic zones will have government approved maritime spatial plans.
MSP was initially proposed in 1976 for the development of marine protected areas as a response to the environmental degradation of marine areas caused by human activities. In the early 1980s, zoning plans were created for the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The Great Barrier Reef zoning plans also had a primary goal of marine conservation—a very different character and scope to the multiple-objective of MSPs.
It is believed that MSP is a fruitful solution to a modern problem and embraces our contemporary understanding of conservation and management. According to UNESCO definition, MSP is “a practical way to create and establish a more rational organisation of the use of marine space and the interactions between its uses, to balance demands for development with the need to protect marine ecosystems and to achieve social and economic objectives in an open and planned way”.
Characteristics of MSP
MSP has certain characteristics, it has to be:
• Integrated across economic sectors and governmental agencies, and among levels of government.
• Strategic and future-oriented, focused on the long-term.
• Participatory, including stakeholders actively in the process.
• Adaptive, capable of learning by doing.
• Ecosystem-based, balancing ecological, economic, social, and cultural goals and objectives toward sustainable development and the maintenance of ecosystem services.
• Place-based or area-based, i.e., integrated management of all human activities within a spatially demarcated area identified through ecological, socio-economic, and jurisdictional considerations.
Oceans without MSP
Human activities regarding the sea will be increased significantly in the next 20 years. Traditional uses, such as marine transportation, sand and gravel mining, and maritime recreation will continue to grow. Oil and gas development will continue to push further and deeper offshore with many of its operations occurring only underwater. Fisheries will continue to exist, but at lower levels, due to the diminished stocks, and in more restricted areas because of competition for ocean space. New uses of the ocean, e.g., offshore renewable energy and offshore aquaculture, will compete with traditional uses for space.
Climate change will have modified species distributions and habitats; increasing ocean acidification will raise new concerns about the survival of some species. In many areas, increasing public concern about the health of the ocean will lead to significant areas set aside for nature conservation. Conflicts among human activities will increase, e.g., collisions of ships with wind turbines might occur, as might conflicts between wave parks and surfers and sailors.
Benefits of MSP in sea use management
One of the major objectives of MSP is to resolve this conflict between existing and new uses by delimiting use based zoning. Spatial zones permit a specific activity within a physical boundary to reduce over lapping with other uses. For an example installation of offshore LNG stations might have conflict with fisheries, so zoning can limit fishing area to make space for hydrocarbon infrastructures.
Rapid declination of marine ecosystem due to human interventions is one of the major concerns of these days. One of the biggest challenges is to reduce this use-environment conflict in marine ecosystem. Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) approach is an essential measure to manage development strategies in coastal and maritime areas. The goal of ecosystem-based management is to maintain an ecosystem in a healthy, productive and resilient condition so that it can provide the services to the humans needs. To conserve biodiversity, MSP has got considerable success elsewhere as an effective tool for EBM. For an example, in Chanel Island (USA) death rate of cetaceans due to heavy maritime traffic was decreased by implementing MSP. It led an integrated approach to manage environment gives a better understanding and long term vision for future ocean.
Increasing change of sea surface temperature due to climate change is influencing physical, biological and chemical properties of seas around the world. Changing climate is affecting all marine uses including fisheries, tourism, aquaculture as well as biodiversity degradation. Climate informed MSP can be an effective tool to adopt future challenges and uncertainties with inclusion of climate related disturbances in marine conservation planning.
One of the administrative benefits of MSP is it improves management capacity by linking different authorities for good governance. A lack of connection between the various authorities responsible for individual activities can led to serious uncertainty over future development objective. For an example, a single spatial scale can contain multiple plans like water management plan, municipality plan, urban plan, biodiversity conservation plan and various sectorial plans (fisheries, tourism and energy) led by different authorities. MSP acts as a connecting agent among different sectorial plans and there authorities as well. MSP, with an ability to deal with multiple objectives, improves decision making and accountability to coordinate between different plans, sectors in order to achieve a cumulative result.
Effective stakeholder engagement and management in every step of planning and implementation process makes MSP more connected to users groups and community. A focus on effective stakeholder involvement gives the provision to adopt bottom-up approach for decision making which is more inclusive than conventional top down approach.
Since all oceans are connected and marine ecosystem do not follow any political boundary, MSP gives a provision to plan beyond national jurisdictional water in an international scale. Many joint initiatives for cross border MSP are taking place which help to make better regional coordination between countries to develop common vision sustainable future. Planning Bothnia Sea, MSP in Adriatic sea, ESPON between Portugal and Spain are some example of on-going cross boundary MSP projects. We also have the opportunity to conduct cross boundary MSP projects together with the Bay of Bengal littorals.
Methodological guidelines for MSP
MSP encompasses a methodological approach including different phases with set of activities. In most of the cases, MSP usually consist of three planning phases; pre-planning, planning and implementation. There have been several efforts to develop methodological guidelines for MSP. Out of them, probably the most influential guideline has been published by Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission UNESCO as ‘Maritime Spatial Planning: A Step-by-Step Approach toward Ecosystem-based Management’.
The development and implementation of MSP involves a number of steps, including:
(1) Identifying need and establishing authority
(2) Obtaining financial support
(3) Organising the process through pre-planning
(4) Organising stakeholder participation
(5) Defining and analysing existing conditions
(6) Defining and analysing future conditions
(7) Preparing and approving the spatial management plan
(8) Implementing and enforcing the spatial management plan
(9) Monitoring and evaluating performance
(10) Adapting the marine spatial management process
MSP for the Bay of Bengal
As a maritime nation, Bangladesh is blessed with rich and untapped maritime resources of the Bay of Bengal. To utilise those resources in a sustainable manner, Bangladesh needs MSP and good ocean governance in the light of Blue Economy. Here are the brief overviews of the potentials of the Blue Economy in the Bay of Bengal, which need MSP with cross boundary projects option open, are as follows:
Marine fisheries
Fish is the largest trading item of developing countries, where one billion people depend on seafood for their primary source of protein. About 475 species of fish are found in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Bangladesh compared to 250 sweet water species on land. Marine fish contributes at least 20% of total fish production in the country. Bangladesh is estimated to catch only about 0.70 million tons of fish every year out of the total 8 million tons of fish available in the Bay of Bengal.
The fisheries sector in Bangladesh has been earning a notable amount of foreign exchange. In 2016-17, the sector earned BDT 4,287.64 crore by exporting almost 68.31 thousand MT of fish and fisheries products. According to the Bay of Bengal Large Maritime Ecosystem (BoBLME) project, about 60 million tons of fishes that constitute 16% of world production are produced annually from the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh mainly exports ten categories of fishery products (Frozen freshwater fish, frozen marine water fish, frozen shrimp, chilled fish, live fish, dry fish, salted dehydrate, live eel, live crab, and fish scale/shrimp scull) to more than 55 countries.
Aquaculture
Integrated multi-tropic offshore aquaculture is the fastest growing global food sector, now providing 47% of the fish for human consumption. Aquaculture under the Blue Economy will incorporate the value of the natural capital in its development, respecting ecological parameters throughout the cycle of production, creating sustainable, decent employment and offering high value commodities for export.
Marine biotechnology
One of the fastest emerging high-technology sectors in the Blue Economy is marine biotechnology with a market of about USD 4.6 billion. It has wide-ranging applications in industrial sectors including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, nutritional supplements, molecular probes, enzymes and agrochemicals.
Marine biotechnology has the potential to address a suite of global challenges such as sustainable food supplies, human health, energy security and environmental remediation. Marine genetic resources like bacteria are a rich source of potential drugs. In 2017, there were over 36 marine derived drugs under clinical development, including 15 for the treatment of cancer. One area where marine biotech may make a critical contribution is the development of new antibiotics. The potential scope is enormous, by 2017 more than 14,000 novel chemicals had been identified by marine bio prospecting and 300 patents registered on marine natural products.
Offshore energy and deep-sea mining
The largest chunk of developing countries’ ocean economy can be sourced from offshore energy exploration and mining. The seabed currently provides 32% of the global supply of hydrocarbons, up from 20% in 1980. Some 26 Tcf (trillion cubic feet) gas reserve has so far been discovered in Bangladesh, of which only about 1 Tcf is located in the offshore areas. However, it is necessary to carry out multi-client survey (using state of art technology) in the Bay of Bengal in order to identify potential oil and gas fields, and their reserves.
Marine tourism and leisure
Globally, coastal and marine tourism represents 5% of world GDP. Tourism is human-resource intensive. Increasing involvement of local communities in the value chain can contribute to the development of local economies and poverty reduction. In 150 countries, it is one of five top export earners and in countries it is the first. It is the main source of foreign exchange for one-half of Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Tourist sector insiders hope the contribution of domestic tourism will increase to 4.7 % of the nation’s GDP by 2024. According to the latest reliable statistics, at present, around 7,000,000 domestic tourists visit far-flung destinations in the country annually. The figure was 300,000 to 500,000 in the year 2000. New projections suggest that the total to hit the figure of 10 million in the next 5 to 6 years.
Shipping, port and maritime logistics
About 80% of global trade by volume and over 70% by value is seaborne. Smart and deep-water ports, efficient shipping and logistics industries will be instrumental for the development of the Blue Economy. Presently Bangladesh’s value of export and import stands at about USD 78 billion and are carried by more than 3000 foreign ships. Against our import and export value, during last ten years, importers, exporters and buyers has paid USD 95 billion as freight and related charges only to foreign shipping companies, air lines and freight operators to carry goods in and out of Bangladesh.
Shipbuilding, maritime manufacturing and ship recycling
Maritime manufacturing consists of construction, repair and maintenance of boats, ships, fishing vessels, yachts, floating structures and other marine technology which is an important sector of Blue Economy. There are more than 300 shipyards and workshops in Bangladesh and almost 100% requirement of inland vessels, fast patrol boats, dredging barges, passenger vessels, landing craft, tug, supply barges, deck loading barges, speed boat, cargo coasters, troop carrying vessels, hydrographic survey vessels, survey boat, pilot boats, water taxi and pontoons are being built by these yards. Ship building yards are constructing 10,000 DWT sea going ships for export and are expected to upgrade their capacity to 25,000 DWT. Shipbuilding industry not only earns foreign exchange but also saves it.
It should be promoted and nurtured in all possible ways, including its horizontally and vertically linked businesses, and given opportunities and incentives for growth and expansion.
The ship breaking or ship recycling is also another growing industry in the developing countries. Bangladesh has a demand of 5 million tons of metal/steel. But, the domestic production is insufficient to meet this demand. In this case, the ship breaking industry plays a vital role via providing steels. More than 350 re-rolling mills have been using scrapped metals from the breaking yard. Ship breaking industry is currently supplying about 60% of raw materials for local steel industry.
Marine renewable energy
Renewable energy enjoys almost 22% share of the global energy mix. There are various forms of marine renewable energy like offshore solar energy, offshore wind energy, wave energy, tidal energy, ocean thermal energy, salinity gradient, ocean current energy and energy from marine biomass. Marine-based renewable energy such as wind, wave and tidal range and currents offers a significant potential to contribute to low-carbon energy supplies for regions with appropriate coastal features. Offshore wind covers all activities related to the development and construction of wind parks in marine waters, and the exploitation of wind energy by generating electricity offshore. However, most suitable onshore locations for wind turbines need to be identified and the best (windiest) offshore sites have to be connected to the main transmission grid. Tidal energy, covering tidal range and tidal current, is the most advanced, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is based on the thermodynamic potential between the warmer upper water layer and the colder deeper water layer.
Activities provide important synergies with ocean renewable energies, e.g. wave energy converters may help to attenuate wave attack and generate electricity. Marine-based renewable energy can provide alternative employment opportunities particularly for coastal communities who were formerly reliant on fisheries.
All these maritime sectors need proper and modern spatial planning so that the country can yield sustainable economic benefits.
Steps taken by Bangladesh for sustainable maritime development in the context of MSP
In the past, certain maritime activities were not coordinated and thereby suffered from duplication of efforts, whereas various maritime industries were neither managed nor their performance supervised. However, under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh has peacefully resolved the long-standing maritime boundary disputes with its neighbours India and Myanmar, opening a new vista for maritime development in our country.
Today, we are witnessing an unprecedented wave of economic growth and remarkable development in social and economic indicators with substantial investment in regional connectivity, deep seaports, special economic zones, coastal industries, energy clusters and offshore oil and gas exploration. As a major Blue Economy initiative, Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 for the next century has been prepared by the government which would focus on sustainable delta management, integrated water resources management and adaptation to climate change. Meanwhile, Vision 2041, a long-term perspective plan for a developed Bangladesh, has identified Blue Economy as one of the essential drivers for development. Moreover, the goals of SDG 2030, especially SDG 14, i.e., Life Below Water, is being implemented with various maritime development agenda in Bangladesh.
An independent Blue Economy Cell has been formed to ensure proper coordination of Blue Economy activities among all government and private sector maritime stakeholders. Moreover, Bangladesh Ocean Research Institute (BORI) has been established, whereas Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University (BSMRMU) was set up in 2013 for maritime higher education and research.
In fact, Bangladesh was one of the first countries in South Asia to focus on the aspects of Blue Economy leading up to the first international workshop on Blue Economy in September 2014 in Dhaka. However, the time has come to examine which ministries and organisations are better placed to monitor and coordinate among all private and public maritime stakeholders more efficiently.
There is the need for having a National Ministerial Board for facilitating policy making while an Ocean Advisory Committee comprising of maritime experts, scientists, academicians, entrepreneurs and industry leaders should be formed. A regional MSP steering committee with members from the foreign office and other relevant public and private sector also merits consideration.
Ways to adopt MSP for Bangladesh
Founding special authority for MSP
The government should establish an authorised body vested with the duty to take the active step to adopt MSP in the Bay of Bengal. The authority should bring experts from multiple departments related to MSP.
Adoption of Integrated policy
The body established by the government should initiate a cohesive policy rather sector by sector plan for MSP. The plan should be integrated and multi-objective, strategic and future-oriented, and continuous and adaptive. The plan and framework should be developed and run by a special task force at the highest level of the government. All relevant contents from a number of existing national policies, action plans and legislations should be compressed into one uniform legal framework. In this case, the stakeholder needs a special research team to analyse and scrutinise the existing MSP of the world like European Union and Great Barrier Reef of Australia.
Holistic coordination among multi-sectored bodies
All the relevant departments and organs should be brought to the single table for discussion and taking a final decision towards MSP in the Bay of Bengal. It may occupy sharing experience from MSP in other countries like Australia and Japan. MSP without a holistic and coordinated approach can never be functional.
Strong legislative protection and framework
Legislation is the protector and controller of human action. There should be a good legislation which reflects the all aspects of MSP in a codified form.
Improving institutional capacity for marine research
A state establishes universities and institutions for research output that can be applied for the common benefit of the nation. There must have a strong liaison between state governing departments with the universities and institutions. The universities and institutions should be responsible for maritime research with a view to ensuring much efficient and effective plan and policy. Funding should be increased for research on marine affairs. Researchers should be brought from related multiple sectors but under a common platform.
Conclusion
MSP process accumulates and interprets information on the ocean, providing a more integrated basis for government’s decision-making. It requires the participation of governmental institutions, private sectors, NGOs, academicians, scientists, etc., as well as all the levels of governance within an integrated system with reciprocal coordination. In Bangladesh, around 18.2% of the population is dependent on the country’s ocean economy (World Bank Group, 2018).
If growths and investments to boost this economy occur without established standards and policies, they may lead to temporary gains at the cost of longstanding sustainability. As such, it is the need of the hour to move forward with MSP for sustainable ocean governance.
As a coastal state, Bangladesh must drive for marine resources in the Bay of Bengal under motivation of the Blue Economy concept. The exploration of marine resources and marine environment are reciprocal. Where there is exploration there is a possibility of pollution of the marine environment. Therefore, the government has to adopt an effective MSP for Bangladesh in achieving sustainable development as well as the protection of marine environment.
