Marine Spatial Planning Workshop Report and Outcomes

The report details a workshop focused on integrating civil society into South Africa's Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) process. It identifies critical gaps in the Draft MSP Bill and Framework, such as the lack of an ecosystem-based approach and insufficient public participation. Key recommendations include establishing a civil society institutional structure (like a stakeholder forum or Community of Practice), aligning academic research with national MSP milestones, and developing an information-sharing portal to improve transparency and data accessibility.

• Participants identified two primary requirements for the national MSP process: it must be participatory through active stakeholder engagement and it must be ecosystem-based and underpinned by sustainable development.
• The report recommends creating a civil society institutional structure to facilitate engagement, suggesting either an MSP stakeholder forum to run alongside formal technical committees or the development of a Community of Practice.
• Analysis of the Draft MSP Bill and Framework revealed several deficits, including the absence of an ecosystem-based approach, lack of integration with existing tools like fisheries management areas in the Marine Living Resources Act (1998), and insufficient provisions for public participation.
• There is a critical need to align academic research with the national MSP process, which requires the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) to clarify the specific process for developing regional and national marine spatial plans.
• While various decision-support tools exist for marine area plans, the workshop concluded that appropriate tools can only be selected once the specific objectives of those plans are clearly understood.

APA

Reed, J. R., Roux, S., Lombard, A. T., Findlay, K., Awad, A., Duncan, J., & Celliers, L. (2017). Marine Spatial Planning Workshop Report and Outcomes. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/MSP-Workshop-Report-Outcomes-The-Role-of-Civil-Society-in-Supporting-MSP.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Reed, Jodie R., Saul Roux, Amanda T. Lombard, Ken Findlay, Adnan Awad, John Duncan, and Louis Celliers. Marine Spatial Planning Workshop Report and Outcomes. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2017. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/MSP-Workshop-Report-Outcomes-The-Role-of-Civil-Society-in-Supporting-MSP.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Reed |first1=Jodie R. |last2=Roux |first2=Saul |last3=Lombard |first3=Amanda T. |last4=Findlay |first4=Ken |last5=Awad |first5=Adnan |last6=Duncan |first6=John |last7=Celliers |first7=Louis |title=Marine Spatial Planning Workshop Report and Outcomes |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=2017 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/MSP-Workshop-Report-Outcomes-The-Role-of-Civil-Society-in-Supporting-MSP.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{reed2017marine, author = {Reed, Jodie R. and Roux, Saul and Lombard, Amanda T. and Findlay, Ken and Awad, Adnan and Duncan, John and Celliers, Louis}, title = {{Marine Spatial Planning Workshop Report and Outcomes}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2017}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/MSP-Workshop-Report-Outcomes-The-Role-of-Civil-Society-in-Supporting-MSP.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }