9
Oceans provide vital services to people, and the planet. They not only provide jobs and food
but also support economic growth, regulate the climate, and contribute to the well-being of
coastal communities. At a global scale, the capacity of coastal and marine ecosystems to provide
these services is increasingly hampered by the lack of preservation of natural capital and the
unbalanced use of coastal and marine space (Santoro, 2014). With the unprecedented growth in
ocean economy-related activities worldwide, the need for a sustainable concept where
socioeconomic development can occur with minimal environmental degradation is widely
recognised.
The Mediterranean Sea is the second-largest biodiversity hotspot, and one of the major climate
change hotspots in the world. Indeed, climate change is already significantly altering the ability
of marine fisheries to provide food, and income in the region. As a semi-enclosed sea, it is more
sensitive to human impacts than more open waters and is one of the world‟s biomes that shows
strong negative responses to land use, and climate change pressures (Newbold, 2020). By
hosting 87% of the Mediterranean‟s well-documented forms of life, the Western part of the
Mediterranean Sea basin presents the highest rates of endemism (UNEP, 2010). On the other
hand, the Mediterranean is one of the most economically important seas in the world, generating
an estimated annual economic value of 450 billion US dollars from ocean related activities
(Randone et al., 2017).
Over recent decades Mediterranean cities have witnessed important growth due to increasing
population, and socio-economic change, notably on the coasts of southern countries leading to a
rapidly increasing demand for maritime, and coastal space, generally ending in spatial use
conflicts. The Western Mediterranean, in particular, is under intense pressures deriving from
increasing coastal urban development, and intensive human activities such as fisheries,
extraction of natural resources, maritime traffic, and pollution (Plan Bleu, 2014). Following
sustainability trends, this calls for knowledge-based ecosystem-based integrated management,
and planning approaches.
Compared to the north shore of the western Mediterranean Sea basin, the Algerian maritime
space, which occupies the largest area of the western shore, is not that overcrowded in terms of
marine, and coastal activities, but it is subject to the same environmental threats. Therefore, it
requires conservation measures, and a planning framework. According to (Issad, 2016) the
implementation of Marine spatial planning (MSP) in Algeria is one of the main means to achieve
an integrated maritime policy based on the idea that there is a link between the various objectives
related to maritime activities, and uses, and environmental protection. Indeed, MSP is
progressively regarded as attaining sustainable maritime use by managing, and resolving
conflicts between competing uses, thus enhancing natural environment fortification. (Moore et
al., 2017).
MSP is a practical tool to create, and establish a more rational use of marine resources, and
spaces, improve synergies, and reduce conflicts of use in order to balance the demands of
development with the need to protect the environment, and achieve social, and economic
Oceans provide vital services to people, and the planet. They not only provide jobs and food
but also support economic growth, regulate the climate, and contribute to the well-being of
coastal communities. At a global scale, the capacity of coastal and marine ecosystems to provide
these services is increasingly hampered by the lack of preservation of natural capital and the
unbalanced use of coastal and marine space (Santoro, 2014). With the unprecedented growth in
ocean economy-related activities worldwide, the need for a sustainable concept where
socioeconomic development can occur with minimal environmental degradation is widely
recognised.
The Mediterranean Sea is the second-largest biodiversity hotspot, and one of the major climate
change hotspots in the world. Indeed, climate change is already significantly altering the ability
of marine fisheries to provide food, and income in the region. As a semi-enclosed sea, it is more
sensitive to human impacts than more open waters and is one of the world‟s biomes that shows
strong negative responses to land use, and climate change pressures (Newbold, 2020). By
hosting 87% of the Mediterranean‟s well-documented forms of life, the Western part of the
Mediterranean Sea basin presents the highest rates of endemism (UNEP, 2010). On the other
hand, the Mediterranean is one of the most economically important seas in the world, generating
an estimated annual economic value of 450 billion US dollars from ocean related activities
(Randone et al., 2017).
Over recent decades Mediterranean cities have witnessed important growth due to increasing
population, and socio-economic change, notably on the coasts of southern countries leading to a
rapidly increasing demand for maritime, and coastal space, generally ending in spatial use
conflicts. The Western Mediterranean, in particular, is under intense pressures deriving from
increasing coastal urban development, and intensive human activities such as fisheries,
extraction of natural resources, maritime traffic, and pollution (Plan Bleu, 2014). Following
sustainability trends, this calls for knowledge-based ecosystem-based integrated management,
and planning approaches.
Compared to the north shore of the western Mediterranean Sea basin, the Algerian maritime
space, which occupies the largest area of the western shore, is not that overcrowded in terms of
marine, and coastal activities, but it is subject to the same environmental threats. Therefore, it
requires conservation measures, and a planning framework. According to (Issad, 2016) the
implementation of Marine spatial planning (MSP) in Algeria is one of the main means to achieve
an integrated maritime policy based on the idea that there is a link between the various objectives
related to maritime activities, and uses, and environmental protection. Indeed, MSP is
progressively regarded as attaining sustainable maritime use by managing, and resolving
conflicts between competing uses, thus enhancing natural environment fortification. (Moore et
al., 2017).
MSP is a practical tool to create, and establish a more rational use of marine resources, and
spaces, improve synergies, and reduce conflicts of use in order to balance the demands of
development with the need to protect the environment, and achieve social, and economic