Management of Marine Environments

Management of Marine Environments

The Sector for Marine Waters prepares expert bases for the Marine Environment Management Plan (MEMP) in accordance with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (Directive 2008/56/EC) for the client, the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning. In the preparation of expert bases, the IWRS has the roles of coordinator (of activities and content), of creator of various professional content and of designer of data layers for reporting to the Commission. Within these tasks, the IWRS designs content for sea use reviews, socio-economic analyses, assessments of hinterland pressures and reviews of pressures due to sea transport, assists the Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment in preparing position statements, harmonises content at the regional level, collaborates in working groups at the EU level, where it represents Slovenian views, and represents Slovenia at the regional level.

The contents of the Marine Directive were transposed into the acquis of the Republic of Slovenia with Article 59.a of the Waters Act (OG RS, Nos. 67/2002, 110/2002-ZGO-1, 2/2004-ZZdrI-A, 41/2004-ZVO-1, 57/2008, 57/2012)) and the Decree on Detailed Content of the Marine Environment Management Plan (OG RS, Nos. 92/2010, 20/2013). The Marine Environment Management Plan will contain the national marine strategy. The implementation of the Directive is envisaged in the form of 6-year planning periods.

In the first period (until 2015), every EU Member State has to prepare the first Marine Environment Management Plan for its waters. The tasks have been defined within the Framework Programme for Implementation 2010–2015 that was adopted by the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning in 2009. The expert basis for the MEMP was prepared in collaboration with the Marine Biology Station Piran, the Fisheries Research Institute of Slovenia and the Institute of Occupational Safety.

Marine Environment Management Plan (MEMP)

The objective of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (Directive 2008/56/EC establishing a framework for Community action in the field of marine environmental policy (hereinafter referred to as the Marine Directive)) is to achieve good marine environment status by 2020 and thereby to protect the source on which economic and other activities connected to the sea are based. This is the only way to ensure that the benefits of the sea remain available in the long-term and for future generations. For this purpose, the EU Member States have to take the necessary measures to achieve or maintain good environmental status in the marine environment by the year 2015 at the latest (Article 5). The basics for the Marine Environment Management Plan (hereinafter referred to as the MEMP) have been under preparation since 2008. The following final reports were prepared in 2013:

1. initial assessment of marine waters,
2. the report on determining the elements in describing good environmental status and the report on defining target values,
3. main references/expert basis for the MEMP.

Pictured below is the connection between the elements of the initial assessment of the marine environment status, the determination of good environmental status and the design of environmental targets.

Figure: The connection between the elements of the initial assessment of marine environment status, the determination of good environmental status and the design of environmental targets.

General

The content of the Marine Environment Management Plan has to be harmonised with all other EC policies transposed into the Republic of Slovenia’s acquis that apply to water protection, e.g. the Directive establishing a framework for Community action in the field of marine environmental policy (2000/60/EC) (Water Framework Directive) and the nine Directives associated with it, the Habitats Directive (92/43/EC), the Birds Directive (79/409/EC), the maritime policies and the common fisheries policy, recommendations on integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) and international conventions and agreements for sea protection. These policies cover the entire marine environment and regulate the activities that affect it. The Marine Strategy Framework Directive supplements the sea protection system with vital content for the sustainable use of marine waters that other Directives do not regulate. This content is chiefly related to the adequate monitoring of the marine environment status and to considering the cumulative impacts from the use of the sea. The Marine Directive stipulates that the protection of marine waters is mandatory for all Member States.

For more information, please visit the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning website at http://www.mop.gov.si/si/delovna_podrocja/voda/okvirna_direktiva_o_morski_strategiji/