How sustainable is sustainable marine spatial planning? Part I—Linking the concepts Catarina Frazão Santos a,b,n , Tiago Domingos c , Maria Adelaide Ferreira d , Michael Orbach b , Francisco Andrade a a Centro de Oceanografia, Laboratório Marítimo da Guia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Nossa Senhora do Cabo 939, 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal b Duke University Marine Laboratory, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516-9721, USA c INþ, Centro de Estudos em Inovação, Tecnologia e Políticas de Desenvolvimento, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal d e-GEO, Centro de Estudos de Geografia e Planeamento Regional, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Avenida de Berna 26-C, 1069-061 Lisboa, Portugal article info Article history: Received 19 March 2014 Received in revised form 31 March 2014 Accepted 7 April 2014 Keywords: Maritime spatial planning Sustainability Ecosystem-based approach Adaptive management abstract Marine spatial planning (MSP) has emerged worldwide as a tool for sustainable ocean governance. This paper reviews how sustainability and ecosystem-based management (EBM) have been included so far within the MSP general framework, by carrying out: (1) a review on the links between sustainability, EBM and MSP in EU maritime policy initiatives; (2) an analysis on the differences between ecosystem- based MSP versus MSP focused on delivering blue growth; and (3) a discussion on how adaptive management may address some of the main challenges found in achieving sustainable ocean manage- ment. From the EU Green Paper (2006) to the MSP Directive Proposal (2013), MSP processes based on the principle of EBM have been recognized as a necessary tool to ensure maritime sustainable development. Although ecosystem-based MSP has been recently presented as the best way to ensure both ecosystem conservation and development of human activities, most national and European MSP initiatives seem to follow a MSP approach focused in delivering blue growth. A challenge, therefore, arises: how to adjust policy decisions to properly preserve ecosystems and the services they provide? If truly implemented, an adaptive approach seems to be a way forward in ensuring that spatial planning, management and policy- making in marine spaces can be continuously adjusted, thus allowing for sustainability. & 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In 2007, the European Union (EU) adopted an Integrated Maritime Policy [1] that encompasses the regulation of all ele- ments of maritime activity, while providing for a new ecosystem- based management approach (EBM) to human activities in the sea [2]. EBM is an integrated, place-based approach that focuses on a specific ecosystem and on the range of activities affecting it, recognizing the existing connectivity amongst all of its ele- ments, including humans (“people are integral components of social–ecological systems 1 (…) [as they] both affect and respond to ecosystem processes” [3]), and thus aiming for both socioeco- nomic development and environmental preservation [4,5]. In 2008, the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) rein- forced this idea, while requiring member states to apply the EBM concept and to achieve and maintain a “good environmental status” (GES) in their marine environment [6]. Marine spatial planning (MSP) – or maritime spatial planning, as it is referred to in Europe – has been pointed out by some Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpol Marine Policy http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2014.04.004 0308-597X/& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author at: Centro de Oceanografia, Laboratório Marítimo da Guia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Nossa Senhora do Cabo 939, 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal. Tel. þ351 214869211. E-mail addresses: cfsantos@fc.ul.pt (C. Frazão Santos), tdomingos@ist.utl.pt (T. Domingos), adelaide.ferreira@fcsh.unl.pt (M.A. Ferreira), mko@duke.edu (M. Orbach), faandrade@fc.ul.pt (F. Andrade). 1 Although the term socio-ecological system is commonly accepted and used, we acknowledge that if humans are truly considered as part of ecosystems it is somewhat redundant to use it. The “ecological system” already encompass humans by definition (as any other occurring species) and, consequently, their social, cultural and economic dimensions; referring to socio-ecological systems is the same as referring to “a store that sells fruits and apples” or “an area to protect marine mammals and whales”, assuming the second definition is not included in the first. This is why throughout the text we preferred the use of the term ecosystem. Marine Policy 49 (2014) 59–65