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Good governance, an enabling environment, sustainableland- and marine-based human activities, and adequatemeasures will be required to reduce the negativeanthropogenic impacts on the marine environment.Projects and measures should ideally be designed andimplemented in an integrated, cross-sectoral and crossscalemanner, in line with the ecosystem approach andinvolving all stakeholders. Terrestrial and marine/coastalgovernance should be linked, specifically addressing theimpact of land-based activities on marine and coastalenvironments (e.g. marine pollution).An ecosystem approach to ocean management is required,which considers the entire ecosystem, including humans, inan integrated manner and takes into account thecumulative impacts of different sectors and humanactivities. The United Nations General Assembly noted thatsuch approaches should be “focused on managing humanactivities in order to maintain and, where needed, restoreecosystem health to sustain goods and environmentalservices, provide social and economic benefits for foodsecurity, sustain livelihoods in support of internationaldevelopment goals” … “and conserve marinebiodiversity”. 200 Marine spatial planning (MSP) andintegrated coastal zone management (ICZM) are some ofthe management tools that play an important role,particularly in relation to managing conflicts of use. Amultitude of measures can be implemented to restore,conserve and protect oceans, seas and marine resourcessuch as the creation of marine protected areas andreserves. In this regard, it should be kept in mind thatsustainable alternative livelihood opportunities might haveto be created simultaneously so as not to undermine thelivelihoods of local populations. Policy regulations and/orincentives might be necessary to change the behaviour ofstakeholders and encourage their engagement inconservation and protection measures.High-quality data can support effective ecosystemmanagement (see as an example Box 3-5). In support of theWorld Ocean Assessment, the Gramed database 201 isexpected to be updated to ensure that a single portal willenable those interested to identify the information onwhich the first World Ocean Assessment is based and helpthem to access it. 202 In the past, scientific assessmentscontributed solid foundations in terms of informationsystems, for example the Census of Marine Life 203 with theOcean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) 204 .According to contributing experts, comprehensivedatabases, first at the country and then at the regionallevel, are required. Research institutions within each regionshould seek to work collaboratively to ensure that researchefforts are not duplicated, and that limited resources areefficiently utilized. The observation and monitoring ofmarine and coastal ecosystems are important to identifychanges over time, assess the effectiveness ofimplemented measures and policies and allow decisionmakersto develop appropriate and timely responses. TheGlobal Ocean Observing System (GOOS) is a good exampleof a system for observations, modelling and analysis ofmarine and ocean variables to support marine science,assessment of change and operational ocean servicesworldwide. Its three advisory bodies 205 supply scientificstudies and expertise. One of them, the newly createdBiology and Ecosystems Panel, will, among others, identifymajor scientific and societal challenges that requiresustained ocean biology and ecosystem variableobservations. 206Box 3-5. Space technology data for ecosystemmanagementSpace technology and other spatial applications cansupplement in-situ observations and provide valuable nearrealtime observations of physical, chemical and somebiological parameters at the sea surface and help overcomesome of the issues caused by the trans-boundary nature ofthe oceans. Several key ocean parameters can be obtainedin this manner (e.g. ocean bottom character, contaminants,heat flux, ice distribution, ocean colour, salinity, sea level,stream flow, surface currents, surface waves, temperature,wind speed and direction, and upper layer zooplanktonabundance). Space technology can also support themanagement of biodiversity and wildlife, for example bytracking tagged animals. Other ways of using satellite dataare being explored, including for tracking illegal,unregulated and unreported fishing. 207The illustrative case studies presented in Section 3.3confirm the close inter-linkages between oceans, seas,marine resources and human well-being and demonstratethat actions impacting one area of the nexus may also havean effect on the other areas. This aligns with the concept ofa network of SDGs with a multitude of interactions andsynergies (see chapter 2). In this context, future scientificresearch needs to be integrative and cross-sectoral andfurther "system or cluster thinking” approaches.Scientific information combined with relevant knowledgefrom experiences in implementing concrete projects canguide policy-making and activities. A collection of relevantscientific reports organized by topics, as presented inAnnex II of this chapter, could be useful. In this context, thecontinuation and update of the Gramed database 208 couldbe considered. The scientific coverage of socio-economicaspects of the nexus and threats affecting it needs to beimproved. Enhanced trans-/multidisciplinary research is67