Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
dynamics of environmental systems, the current state of the environ-
ment, the pressures on it and its likely response should be an integral part
of a modern planning system
.
90
'
It proposes that
'
state of
the
environment
reports should be produced at the outset of planning
processes.
91
The mapping of marine space that literature on marine
spatial planning calls for would also provide a sensible platform for
ecologically oriented planning.
92
Crowder and Norse argue that an
essential precursor to preparing plans that are intended to strike a
balance between sea uses and marine conservation would be, through
biophysical, socioeconomic and jurisdictional mapping, to
'
produce
meaningful mosaics of places suitableforthepracticeofplace-based
management of marine ecosystems
'
.
93
Information on a variety of matters would be required to support
strategic thinking on how ecological stresses might be reduced. First,
given the prioritisation of alleviating developmental pressures through
reducing consumption or
'
nding means of obviating development, local
and regional planning should be founded on analysis of the demands
generated by resource-intensive places and how these are met.
94
This
would create a necessary backdrop for the consideration and selection of
options that would provide a realistic means of moving away from
current behaviours and the timescales over which these might be
deployed. Second, regions and localities should identify both the avail-
ability of resources and possibilities for adopting options that are iden-
ti
ed as ecologically preferable in policy and the extent to which these
might replace less-ecologically desirable options including those ear-
marked for
'
sunsetting
'
. These analyses will operate together to allow
90
The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution,
'
Environmental Planning
'
,p.75,
para 6.1.
91
Ibid
., p. 5, para 23.
92
Young et al.,
'
Solving the Crisis
'
,23
-
4; Crowder and Norse,
'
Essential Ecological
Insights
'
,772
-
3; Douvere,
'
The Importance of Marine Spatial Planning
'
,766;Halpern
et al.,
ANew
Vision for California Ocean Governance: Comprehensive Ecosystem-based Marine
Zoning
'
Managing for Cumulative Impacts
'
,208;D.A.SivasandM.R.Caldwell,
'
(2008) 27 Stanford Environmental Law Journal,247,257.
93
Crowder and Norse,
'
, 773.
94
Wong and her colleagues argue in their reports for the Royal Town Planning Institute
that an understanding of relationships within and between
'
Essential Ecological Insights
'
'
and of their links with rural areas and national signi
cance is essential if planning
processes are to identify issues resulting from these relationships and to devise policies
and programmes that address them. See C. Wong et al.,
'
large polycentric regions
'
Uniting Britain: The Evidence
Base
-
Spatial Structure and Key Drivers
'
(London: Royal Town Planning Institute,
2006
), pp. 8
-
12; Wong et al.,
'
A Map for England
'
,pp.18
-
25.
