Visualizing the Health of Coastal and Marine Ecosystems: Systematic Gathering and Use of Data and Information for Effective Planning and Management of Coastal and Marine Areas

Managing coastal and marine areas and resources entails working with many different social and economic sectors and scientific disciplines. Each sector has its own data and information. Integrated coastal management (ICM) requires access to this wide array of data and information. More importantly, understanding and applying socioeconomic, cultural and natural values, and demography and ecological conditions as input to policymaking and planning are key to a successful program.