THE REGIONAL-SCALE OF OCEAN MANAGEMENT AND MARINE REGION BUILDING

The political relevance of ocean management on the regional scale is discussed with reference to (i) the UNEP approach through the Regional Seas Programme (1974), which deals with enclosed and semi-enclosed, as well as open seas; (ii) the UNCLOS (1982) approach, which refers to a concept of enclosed and semi-enclosed seas not coincident with that of geography and which does not distinguish between enclosed and semi-enclosed seas; (iii) the UNCED (1992) approach, which throughout Agenda 21, Chapter 17, does not regard the regional marine space as worthy of special provisions. In this context two interacting issues should be noted. On the one hand, there is the need to develop coastal and ocean management on the regional scale, which is dealt with by current conventions, as well as others in preparation. On the other hand, there is the need to tailor management programmes and the decision-making systems to marine areas which, consisting of one or more contiguous ecosystems, can be regarded as regional. In this view, contributions from the geographical theory of the region are considered with the aim of stimulating interaction between this and the theory of coastal and ocean management.