Introducing Smart Marine Ecosystem-Based Planning (SMEP)—How SMEP Can Drive Marine Spatial Planning Strategy and Its Implementation in Greece

• Published in: Geomatics (Basel) 2022-06, Vol.2 (2), p.197-220
• Main Authors: Contarinis, Stilianos, Nakos, Byron, Pallikaris, Athanasios
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Coastal zone management; Coasts; Environmental economics; Environmental protection; Exclusive economic zone; marine cadastre; Marine mammals; Marine Protected Areas (IHO S-122); marine spatial data infrastructure (MSDI); marine spatial planning (MSP); Maritime law; Maritime Limits and Boundaries (IHO S-121); Planning; smart marine ecosystem-based planning (SMEP); Whales & whaling
• ISSN: 2673-7418; 2673-7418
• DOI: 10.3390/geomatics2020012

This paper introduces smart marine ecosystem-based planning (SMEP), a marine spatial planning (MSP) strategy for more participatory and responsive marine governance by leveraging “smart” digital services. SMEP denotes an iterative MSP process with planning cycles that incorporate continuous data gathering of spatial–temporal natural phenomena and human activities in coastal and marine areas, with ongoing data mining to locate key patterns and trends, to strive for periodic refinement of the MSP output. SMEP aims to adopt an ecosystem-based approach, taking into account both living and nonliving aspects of the marine environment, and making use of all available spatial data at various resolutions. In pursuit of SMEP implementation, the paper examines the current state of the MSP process in Greece and relates its long-term success with the establishment of a marine spatial data infrastructure (MSDI), employing contemporary nautical cartography standards along with hydrospatial data services.