Sustainable Ocean Governance and Marine Ecosystem Resilience

Sustainable ocean governance encompasses the institutions, policies and practices that regulate human activities in marine environments to ensure the long-term health and productivity of ocean ecosystems. Central to this endeavour is the adoption of ecosystem-based management, which considers ecological interdependencies, habitat integrity and socio-economic drivers in a unified framework. Adaptive governance models, characterised by iterative learning, stakeholder participation and cross-sectoral coordination, enable rapid responses to emerging threats such as climate change, overfishing and pollution. The designation of marine protected areas and the implementation of dynamic spatial planning tools support both biodiversity conservation and the livelihoods of coastal communities. Resilience is fostered through diversified resource use, restoration of degraded habitats and the maintenance of ecosystem services—from carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling to fisheries production and coastal protection. By integrating traditional knowledge, equitable representation and transparent decision-making, sustainable ocean governance seeks to balance competing interests while safeguarding the capacity of marine ecosystems to absorb disturbances and continue providing essential benefits for present and future generations.

Research from Nature Portfolio

No recent Nature Portfolio content available.

Sustainable Ocean Governance and Marine Ecosystem Resilience publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in sustainable ocean governance and marine ecosystem resilience across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Ecosystem-based management: A holistic approach that integrates the management of land, water and living resources to promote conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way.

Adaptive governance: A flexible policy framework that embraces learning, stakeholder participation and iterative decision-making to respond effectively to environmental change.

Marine Protected Area (MPA): A geographically defined zone in which human activities are regulated to protect biodiversity, ecosystem function and cultural values.

Resilience: The capacity of an ecosystem to absorb disturbance, reorganise and continue to perform essential functions and services.

Ecosystem services: The benefits that people derive from ecosystems, including provisioning (e.g. food), regulating (e.g. climate regulation) and cultural (e.g. recreation) services.

References

1. Engaging the tropical majority to make ocean governance and science more equitable and effective. npj Ocean Sustainability (2023).
2. Destructive fishing: An expert‐driven definition and exploration of this quasi‐concept. Conservation Letters (2024).
3. Ocean resource use: building the coastal blue economy. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries (2021).