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11 th International Symposium for GIS and Computer Cartography for Coastal Zones ManagementScotland’s marine areas play host to a variety of different users and activities that in certain cases may competewith one another for space. Amongst these activities are: aquaculture, archaeology, fisheries, dredging, conservation,military activities, oil and gas, shipping and transportation, submarine pipelines and cables and CO 2 storage. Thenumerous national legislated controls and local byelaws that regulate these various activities were collated and withinthis prototype zoning scheme the spatial data that were derived from permits and consents (where available) weremapped using a Geographical Information System (GIS). Due to the lack of data the various non-statutory managementmeasures that are currently in place within Scottish waters, e.g. informal management agreements and codes ofpractice, could not be included within this study. Additionally only those activities that take place below the lowwater mark were included, therefore local authority byelaws designed to regulate activities within intertidal areaswere also precluded.A second database was created using available data on habitats, species and other ecological variables was alsoassembled for the Scottish marine area, these, again as with the activities data, were mapped using GIS. Togetherthese two datasets were used to formulate the basis of the prototype zoning scheme, the zones of which have beencarefully designed to facilitate the delivery of long-term protection for the marine environment as a whole ecosystemwhile still enabling Scotland’s seas to be a functioning, well utilised and productive area that is managed in asustainable manner.This Prototype scheme is unique compared with other zoning schemes in that it aims to incorporate both legislatedactivities and environmental factors into the production of its management zones and therefore the criteria andzones have been altered appropriately. Each of the five zones proposed afford an increasing level of protection andlevel of active management. The five proposed zones are:1. Precautionary Management Zone Activities that are permitted by international legislation (and can therefore legally occur within these zones),through legally permitted consents or licenses issued by the relevant authorities. Regulated activities that are unlicensed may also occur within this zone e.g. shipping and fishing activitiesare not spatially controlled by legislation but can occur within this zone as they are controlled by MARPOLand EU fisheries legislation. The granting of future licensing for activities within this zone should firstly be preceded by research to improveknowledge of the area. Currently scientific data may be considered inadequate in order to identifyany areas within this zone that are important to the maintenance of biodiversity, ecological health andproductivity of ecosystems within it.2. Targeted Management Zone An area which has been granted authorisation, license, permit, order or consent for an activity to take place. Activities occurring in this zone take place subject to the provisions of regional, national and internationallegislation and under management by the relevant authorities.3. Exclusion Zone (containing two sub-zones: Limited Exclusion Zone and Significant Exclusion Zone);3A Limited Exclusion Zone (LEZ) Incorporates activities which have a temporal exclusion zone attached to them which affect other activitiesand also activities that place temporal exclusion zones on themselves due to conservation demands. Examples include Ministry of Defence (MOD) areas, no dredge zones around pipelines and cables or fisheriesprotected areas etc. that may be closed seasonally. Although this zone effectively prohibits an activity from occurring within a spatial extent or time frame thisdoes not stop other activities from taking place in that sea area.3B Significant Exclusion Zone (SEZ) This zone contains legally permitted activities that require an exclusion zone due to health and safety reasons.Zoning includes both the activity and the 'safety' area. This zone includes protected historical sites and areas that have been designated for their conservation attributese.g. SACs, SPAs, SSSIs, etc. where irreparable damage could occur if other activities were to be permitted.4. Conservation Priority Zone Almost all other activities will be prohibited at all times, with a few exceptions such as for research purposes,which would require a permit before being carried out.89