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1.2
The Establishment of Large Marine Ecosystems as
Management Areas
An Ecosystem-Based Management Approach
The LME concept was introduced in the mid-1980s as an
alternative to the pre-existing sectoral approach to marine
conservation.
30
As opposed to the management of individual
resources and country-delineated boundaries, ecosystem-
based management is “driven by explicit goals, executed by
policies, protocols, and practices, and made adaptable by
monitoring and research based on our best understanding
of the ecological interactions and processes necessary to
sustain ecosystem structure and function.”
31
Each LME is
defined by ecological criteria (bathymetry, hydrography,
productivity, and trophic relationships), and encompasses
ocean space of at least 200,000 km
2
.
32
The coastal oceans in
which the 66 LMEs are located produce 80 per cent of the
world’s annual marine fisheries catch.
33
These areas are at
risk from unsustainable use that has led to coastal ocean
pollution, nutrient over-enrichment, habitat degradation (of
sea grasses, corals and mangroves for example), overfishing,
biodiversity loss, and climate change effects.
34
In 1995, the GEF approved the use of the LME as a unit for
ecosystem-based management of international coastal
oceans.
35
The ecosystem-based process consists of a five-
module approach focused on productivity, fish and fisheries,
pollution and ecosystem health, socioeconomics and
governance (Figure 3).
36
Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis and
Strategic Action Programmes
The 1995 GEF Operational Strategy developed two key
processes for countries to work together in order to manage
the LME transboundary systems. First, countries and partners
jointly compile a Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA)
consisting of data and factual information on the first
four indicators in the five-module approach: productivity,
pollution and ecosystem health, fish and fisheries and
socioeconomics. This united effort fills information gaps
in joint understanding of how the LME works. The second
process, the creation of a Strategic Action Programme (SAP),