The marine spatial planning in Mexico: challenge and invitation to the scientific work

Alejandro Espinoza-Tenorio, Marcia Moreno-Báez, Daniel Pech, Guillermo Jorge Villalobos-Zapata, Laura Vidal-Hernández, Julia Ramos-Miranda, Manuel Mendoza-Carranza, José Alberto Zepeda-Domínguez, Graciela Alcalá-Moya, Juan Carlos Pérez-Jiménez, Fernando Rosete, Cuauhtémoc León, Ileana Espejel


DOI: https://doi.org/10.3856/vol42-issue3-fulltext-1

The Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) has been adopted in Mexico as an environmental planning instrument attending coastal-sea issues and guiding the activities carried out on those realms. However, its application is still a challenge for the government, who has requested scientists to actively participate in developing proposals in order to promote effective implementation of the MSP trough operative plans: the Marine Spatial Planning Programs (MSPP). In this article we reviewed the academic inputs to the MSPP construction and the prevailed challenges to achieve an effective MSP implementation. We pointed out that Mexico is a country with many lessons learned but more to learn. Future research agendas should transcended to the next level of discussion, where the articulation of actions will be prioritized looking to: 1) harmonize the MSP with other coastal-sea management instruments, 2) promote and develop an adaptive management agenda through monitoring and evaluation indicators, 3) improve and develop socially inclusive planning tools, and 4) to encourage the development of skills at all levels of decisions on the integrated management of coastland marine areas.


Espinoza-Tenorio A, Moreno-Báez M, Pech D, Villalobos-Zapata G, Vidal-Hernández L, Ramos-Miranda J, Mendoza-Carranza M, Zepeda-Domínguez J, Alcalá-Moya G, Pérez-Jiménez J, Rosete F, León C, Espejel I. The marine spatial planning in Mexico: challenge and invitation to the scientific work. Lat. Am. J. Aquat. Res.. 2017;42(3): 386-400. Available from: doi:10.3856/vol42-issue3-fulltext-1 [Accessed 7 Oct. 2024].
Espinoza-Tenorio, A., Moreno-Báez, M., Pech, D., Villalobos-Zapata, G., Vidal-Hernández, L., Ramos-Miranda, J., Mendoza-Carranza, M., Zepeda-Domínguez, J., Alcalá-Moya, G., Pérez-Jiménez, J., Rosete, F., León, C., & Espejel, I. (2017). The marine spatial planning in Mexico: challenge and invitation to the scientific work. Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research, 42(3), 386-400. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3856/vol42-issue3-fulltext-1