Given the treasure trove of opportunities and resources in the ocean that are available for exploitation, there are multiple users accessing the goods and services. Consequentely, conflicts often arise as the multiple uses and users' needs overlap in space and time.
The problem is that poorly managed resource use can impact ecosystems, sometimes irreversibly, compromising the future provisioning of goods and services
The established international best practice to solve this problem is spatial planning, particularly for the marine environment. Nelson Mandela University has taken a leadership role in providing an academic and education platform to develop the required expertise to expand Africa's and national capacity in the Marine and Maritime fields (e.g., the establishment of SAIMI and a Marine and Maritime Science Task Team), and in the field of marine spatial planning. It is against this backdrop that we have convened the workshop.