Advancing Ecosystem-Based Management implementation for Coastal Resilience. A case study research about cross-sectoral interplay in the Social-Ecological System of the Mar Menor

Coastal ecosystems provide essential goods and services to societies. Nevertheless, these ecosystems are experiencing rapid degradation worldwide. Increasing coastal uses that exert cumulative pressures on coastal environments jeopardise the provision of ecosystem services such as food, coastal protection and recreation. In the case of the Mar Menor, a coastal lagoon in Spain, sectoral management has been unable to provide solutions to the degradation of the ecosystem from human impacts and recurring anoxia events in the lagoon are threatening human well-being of coastal communities dependent on the lagoon. Scientists and policymakers recommend implementing Ecosystem-based Management (EBM) to increase the resilience of coastal social-ecological systems. Nevertheless, its implementation in coastal areas remains challenging due to the mismatch with the institutional design of a traditional sectoral management of the coast. Increasing cross-sectoral interplay of actors is promoted for bridging sectoral actors in management and operationalising EBM. Therefore, this study investigates through interviews and document analysis how coordination, cooperation and participation of actors involved in coastal management is organised in the case of the EBM implementation in the Mar Menor and its social-ecological system. The results of this study show that cross-sectoral structures like commissions or committees can contribute to the integration of the wide spectrum of stakeholders in coastal management to ensure coherent action with EBM objectives and foster sharing of local and scientific knowledge for adaptive management. Meanwhile, this research indicates that power relations and political will are key hindering factors for cross-sectoral interplay and thus need to be addressed for operationalising EBM. Therefore, suggestions are given in order to further advance in EBM implementation, such as changing political priorities, increasing the awareness of the benefits of cooperating with scientific and local actors and designing strong legal basis for stakeholder participation.

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Moragues Pitarch M. Advancing Ecosystem-Based Management implementation for Coastal Resilience. A case study research about cross-sectoral interplay in the Social-Ecological System of the Mar Menor. University of Groningen, 2022.

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Retrieved: 31 Oct 2025 22:19:59

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Resource type Article
Date of creation 2024-11-05
Date of last revision 2024-11-05
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Metadata identifier 05446b40-bd18-525b-9738-4bd89c84132d
Metadata language Spanish
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High-value dataset category Earth observation and environment
ISO 19115 topic category biota
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Name of the dataset creator Moragues Pitarch, M.
Name of the dataset editor University of Groningen
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