The Benefits to Marine Spatial Planning and Its Impacts on Life on Land

 During my last term of my senior year, Frontiers, we were able to look into eight grand challenges our marine ecosystems were currently facing. We were asked to construct a literature review going over some solutions to these grand challenges. For me, I find our marine ecosystems make a huge impact on the way that we live our life on land being that our Earth is 71% covered by water. This effects our socio-economic development as we know it. In other words, if our oceans are being protected and aren't doing well, we aren't either. For this action project, I decided to focus my attention on the impacts of Marine Spatial Planning and combine my interests on land to life underwater. Check out one of my last action projects below to see how Marine Spatial Planning can impact our life on land and our future as we know it. 

Yuejong, Hu. Dec. 15, 2019. Pixabay. 

In conclusion, I enjoyed being able to work on a project where I was able to combine my interests in economics with life underwater. I thought it was an interesting take on international relations and economics in a way that many haven't quite seen before, and I hope this piece inspires some students, scientists, or leaders around the globe to look into this a bit more to see how we can advance as a society, and change the future for life underwater in the most efficient way possible. 

Citations:

1. Borja, Angel. 2013. Marine research in the Iberian Peninsula: A pledge for better times after an economic crisis. Journal of Sea Research. Volume 83.

2. Benedetti-Cecchi. 2005. Unanticipated impacts of spatial variance of biodiversity on plant productivity. Ecology Letters. Volume 8, Issue 8. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X12002084?via%3Dihub

3. Ehler, C. and Douvere, F. (2009) Marine spatial planning: a step-by-step approach. Paris, France, Unesco, 99pp. (IOC Manuals and Guides 53), ( ICAM Dossier 6). DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.25607/OBP-43. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308597X0800064X

4. Underwood, Evelyn & Taylor, Katie & Tucker, Graham. (2018). The use of biodiversity data in spatial planning and impact assessment in Europe. Research Ideas and Outcomes. 4. e28045. 10.3897/rio.4.e28045. 

5. Underal, Arild. 2017. Climate Change and International Relations (After Kyoto). Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci. Volume 20. 

6. Wanfei Qiu, Peter J.S. Jones. 2013. The emerging policy landscape for marine spatial planning in Europe. Marine Policy. Volume 39.