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11 th International Symposium for GIS and Computer Cartography for Coastal Zones Managementerately developing a simple and attribute oriented structure that we are able to maintain this system. Another riskwhen developing new data systems or databases is that they stop existing as soon as project funding ends. Therefore,it is good practice to maintain data systems in dedicated data centres where these activities are part of the institutionalobjectives. In this respect, the Marine Regions database has the advantage that it is hosted by the datacentre of theFlanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), a National Oceanographic Data Centre (NODC) with structural financial supportfrom the Flemish region.Publishing boundaries online is sensitive, as several marine boundaries are still under dispute between differentstates. Important in this respect is that Marine Regions clearly states that it does not imply any opinion concerningthe legal status of any country, territory or area, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Thedata system is intended to facilitate marine research and the data can be used for educational, scientific or researchpurposes but should not be used for legal, commercial or navigational purposes. Marine Regions, is aware that thedatabase is not complete and undoubtedly contains errors. However, the system is updated at a regular basis, andincorporates feedback from the user community in a proactive manner.ConclusionMarine Regions aims at improving access and clarity of the different geographic, marine names such as seas,sandbanks, ridges and bays and displays univocally the boundaries of marine biogeographic or managerial marineareas. By the integration and standardization of marine geographic names and boundaries from different sourcesMarine Regions’ objectives are to work towards a standardized list of geographic names and boundaries, and toprovide open access to the geographic data coupled with these geographic entities.Not only is the Marine Regions database valuable as a search tool on its own, but a lot of applications can be derivedfrom it. The user analysis indicates that a very large user community uses the system for different applications.It is by integrating feedback from this community that Marine Regions intends to reach his overall objective, whichis evolving towards a global accepted standard for georeferenced marine regions.AcknowledgmentsMarine Regions is managed by the Flanders Marine Institute, with financial support from the Flemish government,the EU Network of Excellence MarBEF (GOCE-CT-2003-505446), the European Marine Observation andData Network (EMODnet) and the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) Lifewatch. Wewould like to acknowledge all content providers and editors of Marine Regions, available atwww.marineregions.org/sources.php and www.marineregions.org/editors.php.ReferencesClaus, S., P. Deckers, B. Vanhoorne, F. Hernandez, and E. Vanden Berghe (2006), Developments and geographicinterface of the VLIMAR gazetteer, in: Mees, J. et al. (eds.). VLIZ Young Scientists' Day, Brugge, Belgium 31March 2006: book of abstracts. VLIZ Special Publication, 30:25.Costello, M.J., E. Vanden Berghe, and H.I. Browman (2006), Ocean biodiversity informatics (OBI): IntroductionMarine Ecology Progress Series, 316: 201–202Deckers, P. and E. Vanden Berghe (2006), The VLIZ Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase as a biogeographical tool,in: ICES 2006 Annual Science Conference 19–23 September; Business meetings 17–26 September, 2006, Maastricht,The Netherlands. Handbook; Contributions, agendas and orders of the day: abstracts.Reusser D.A. and H. Lee (2011), Evolution of natural history information in the 21st century – developing an integratedframework for biological and geographical data. Journal of Biogeography, 38:1225–1239.United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (2000). Handbook on the delimitation of maritimeboundaries. United Nations: New York. ISBN 92-1-133630-9. 204p.130