Governance for conservation and use of coastal ecosystems

Background

Norway’s coast provides important ecosystem services, but is under increasing pressure from human activity and climate change.

Norway’s management system is sector-based. Still, several management tools are designed to ensure a holistic approach and take into account both user and conservation interests. These include:

• coastal zone planning (according to the planning and building act)
• water management (according to the water regulations)
• marine protected areas (according to the nature diversity act)

These are managed by different authorities, and according to different regulations. Although there are interlinkages and many of the same sectors are involved, they are still characterised by different objectives, methods and levels of responsibility. This results in a complex system, which presents coordination and integration challenges.

Objectives

In this project, we will examine how the governance systems for spatial planning, water management and nature conservation work together – and how they influence, and are influenced by, a growing aquaculture industry.

The aim is to identify barriers and opportunities for better coordination and integration, and to develop recommendations for more holistic and effective coastal management.

What we do

The project is funded by the Research Council of Norway and led by the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA). Nofima is a partner, together with Oslo Met – NIBR.

Nofima’s responsibility is to:

• examine the level of policy coherence between policies and management approaches related to coastal spatial planning and aquaculture, and the institutional barriers and enablers affecting this coherence
• contribute to the analysis of the coherence and integration between the three governance systems of coastal spatial planning, water management, and marine conservation.

Contact

Ingrid Kvalvik

Senior Scientist
+47 77 62 90 43