A study of ocean zoning and sustainable management by GIS in Taiwan
Abstract To ensure the implementation of sustainable land development, strengthen ocean preservation, and conserve coastal resources, and encourage management of land use, the Construction and Planning Agency in Taiwan recently passed “The Draft of National Land Planning Act” and “The Draft of Coastal Act.” These acts effectively extend the utilization and management of land to territorial sea and coastal areas. According to a comprehensive Regional Planning review, 1 before the law has not yet completed the legislative, regional planning includes the ocean and the coast areas within the scope of Regional Planning. This study extends previous research on Construction and Planning Agency projects to effectively management of the unregistered land in marine areas. According to the proposed definition of ocean range, this study first surveys practical cases of marine planning in each ocean state to analyze its advantages. We analyzed sea charts and digitalized them to produce a base map. Based on the current situation, an integrated information platform including marine, coastal, and land was established using a GIS system. Second, based on the marine spatial characteristics of the different offshore distance and water depth, this study proposes ocean use management content and process of sub stage-zoning by assessing marine uses in tidal zones, coastal areas, internal waters, and territorial waters. Finally, this study proposes a management guideline of ocean zoning in ocean areas. Management guidelines of ocean zoning provides an important framework for balancing the maintenance of marine biological diversity, sustainable use, and economic development potential.