Increases in the exploration and exploitation of marine resources, such as fish stocks, oil and gas reserves, or sites for wind and hydropower schemes have affected not only marine life and the livelihoods of coastal peoples, but planetary balances as well. While marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly becoming the tool of choice to manage marine resources, they are only a small subset of spatial management tools available to effectively deal with the demand for marine resources. MPAs and MPA networks are now looked at as starting points for more comprehensive spatial management, encompassed in the term ocean zoning. Ocean zoning can catalyze planning that brings together conservation focused on maintaining ecosystems for the services they provide with more conventional regulation, resulting in greater efficacy of management overall. This book discusses the benefits of ocean zoning in theory, reviews progress made in zoning around the world through a wide range of case studies, and derives lessons learned to recommend a process by which future zoning can be maximally effective and efficient.
