Handbook on Sustainable Ocean Plans: A Practitioners' Guide

The ‘Handbook on Sustainable Ocean Plans: A Practitioners’ Guide’ provides a practical framework to help countries design and implement Sustainable Ocean Plans (SOPs). SOPs are comprehensive, country-driven frameworks to sustainably manage 100% of the ocean area under national jurisdiction.

The Handbook was developed to guide practitioners, policymakers, and partners through a structured, step-by-step process to create, finance, and implement effective SOPs that balance ecological integrity with social and economic development.

View the Handbook

The role of ocean accounts

Ocean accounts are recognised as a key tool and methodology for effective and integrated data analysis. The Handbook provides guidance on developing these accounts and their associated indicators.

As outlined in the Handbook, ocean accounts enable decision-makers to:

• Track the performance of ocean policy and planning by providing a framework for measuring progress towards sustainable ocean management consistently over time.
• Identify areas for conservation and restoration by providing standardised information and a consistent evidence base that supports spatial planning decisions and enhances the accuracy of cumulative impact modelling.
• Identify and measure the economic significance of various activities, such as artisanal and industrial fisheries, while also evaluating the value of ecosystem services from mangroves and coral reefs and estimating the economic impact of marine-based tourism.
• Balance the needs of different ocean users by promoting collaboration among governments, industries and local communities.
• Identify potential protected areas for vulnerable marine habitats and species, enhancing a region’s resilience to climate change and humaninduced pressures.
• Foster data-sharing and stakeholder and rights holder partnerships by providing a common information base for all stakeholders and rights holders involved in ocean planning and management

The Handbook provides an example list of economic, environmental and social indicators, which ocean accounts can contribute to.

Source: Handbook on Sustainable Ocean Plans: A Practitioners’ Guide (p 63)

Several GOAP Members and partners contributed to this work as part of the expert team of authors, these include Dr Philip James as one of the leading authors, and contributions from Mitchell Lyons (GOAP Secretariat) and Irfan Yulianto (Rekam Nusantara Foundation).