Capturing Opportunities for Integrated Coastal Zone Management and the Blue Economy in MENA
The MNA region has rich marine ecosystems that can play a key role in eroding extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity through the Blue Economy—the sustainable use of marine resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, jobs, and over...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/591141547220437102/Capturing-Opportunities-for-Integrated-Coastal-Zone-Management-and-the-Blue-Economy-in-MENA http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31208 |
| Summary: | The MNA region has rich marine
ecosystems that can play a key role in eroding extreme
poverty and promoting shared prosperity through the Blue
Economy—the sustainable use of marine resources for economic
growth, improved livelihoods, jobs, and overall ecosystem
health. The Blue Economy includes a wide range of
activities, from fisheries and aquaculture to other
ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, coastal
protection, and biodiversity. For example, MNA has large
coastal areas important to the livelihoods of hundreds of
thousands of people, many of them poor and vulnerable. These
include fisheries and aquaculture, much of it small-scale
and increasing substantially in recent years, from 2,484,644
and 393,987 metric tons, respectively, in 2000 to 4,743,814
and 1,820,983 metric tons in 2016. Many MNA countries rely
heavily on imports for food and fisheries and aquaculture
supplement the food supply, impacting food security and
nutritional diversity. These ecosystems also play a role in
climate change mitigation and adaptation as seas absorb
carbon dioxide (CO2) and coastal habitats, like mangrove
forests and sea grass beds, sequester carbon and help to
protect coastlines, preventing erosion from floods and
storms. Integrated coastal zone management (ICZM)—which
coordinate policies, activities, and investments impacting
coastal and maritime resources—are critical to capturing the
opportunities of the Blue Economy. |
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