Towards a data-driven marine spatial plan for the maritime area of Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

The development of a sustainable blue economy is a priority for the government of Bangladesh. However, to expand the coastal and ocean based economic activities, a marine spatial plan (MSP) is necessary. This paper aims to present a background study to set-up a MSP for the maritime area of Bangladesh. Data on spatial distribution of current maritime activities have been collected from all available sources. These data have been complemented with stakeholder survey data through which information on the constraints for MSP implementation and requirements were collected. Our study found that ecological data and knowledge are currently limited to establish an organized spatial conservation; stakeholder need to be on board right from the beginning to co-produce the MSP; sectorial spatial initiatives such as, for instance, the seaweed mariculture and salt production plans, should be used as case studies, especially for the lessons learned for the development of the MSP.

KEYWORDS:

• Blue economy
• stakeholder
• spatial
• Bangladesh

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Subrata Sarker

Dr. Subrata Sarker is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Oceanography, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST). He received MS Marine Science from the Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries at the University of Chittagong in 2010 followed by a Post-graduation in Observational Oceanography from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Germany in 2014. He completed his PhD degree in 2018 for his research in Biology from Jacobs University, Germany. Prior to joining at SUST, Dr. Sarker worked as a researcher at the AWI, Germany. His teaching and research areas include Blue Economy, marine ecology, non-linear dynamics modelling and coastal oceanography.

Pierre Failler

Professor Pierre Failler has over 25 years of teaching and research experience. Pierre Failler became a Professor of Economics in 2018 and Director of the Centre for Blue Governance in 2019. Currently Professor Pierre is an Invited Lecturer on the Master's program on Coastal Zone Management at the University of Antilles, Martinique and an Invited Researcher at the Caribbean Public Policy Research Centre. He is also an Invited Professor at the Emerging Market Institute of Beijing Normal University, China. Professor Pierre joined the University of Portsmouth as a Research Fellow in 1997. Before this, he was a teaching fellow for the Master’s programme in Marine Resource Management at the University of Québec in Rimouski, Canada.