Ocean Planning
ELI works with resource managers, stakeholders, and communities in the United States and internationally to develop and implement sustainable marine planning systems.
The Caribbean coastal environment supports a wide diversity of livelihoods in the region, but is also heavily impacted by multiple, sometimes conflicting, ocean uses. Focusing on several Caribbean regions, including Grenada, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Barbuda, Montserrat, and Curacao, ELI is working to strengthen marine enforcement and management in the region through the development of marine spatial planning frameworks (view a blog post from Ocean Program Director Kathryn Mengerink here).
The world’s deep ocean covers over half the planet and contains a vast amount of untapped energy resources, precious metals, and minerals. ELI is working to ensure that this largely unexplored portion of the undersea environment is managed in a comprehensive and sustainable way as demand for these resources is on the rise.
ELI is helping support regional ocean and coastal planning efforts around the world that are based on local priorities, transparent and inclusive processes, and best available information. We work with domestic and international entities to help develop systems that reduce conflicts among multiple ocean users and maximize the long-term sustainability of marine ecosystems.
Effectively managing the world’s oceans and coasts requires considering the myriad resources, ecosystems, users, and services it supports and how they overlap and connect. Our ocean and coastal governance frameworks are often fragmented, with resources protected on an individual basis, users managed in isolation, and agencies operating in silos. ELI works to support the development and implementation of integrated ocean and coastal planning systems that better protect marine ecosystems and the people that depend on them.
“Geospatial NEPA” is designed to facilitate access and information sharing by aggregating NEPA
documents and geospatial data in a map-based data system. ELI is developing the concept and drafted a report on approaches, policies, and possibilities for this new vision of NEPA review.