Marine Spatial Planning in Bangladesh: A Review

Bangladesh acquired a large maritime area(1,18,813 km2) which is almost the same as its land area; therefore, this vast
marine area provoked Bangladesh to use its maritime resources in a sustainable way called this term “Blue Economy”.
For implementing “Blue Economy” in the marine area a proper ocean management tool is required; unfortunately,
Bangladesh is in the early stage of managing its maritime resources. However, Marine Spatial Planning(MSP) is a very
popular multidimensional tool for ocean management. Its integrated approach helps to resolve issues between the
ocean users and it can secure ecological, economic and social advantages. There are four prerequisites for
implementing MSP; among them, Bangladesh satisfies one; therefore other prerequisites should be satisfied as early
as possible. The present legal framework is not enough for implementing MSP in Bangladesh though some legal
framework is useful therefore, strong legislative protection and framework and integrated policy along with
establishing a special authority for MSP are urgent. Stakeholder engagement in policymaking and arranging ocean
literacy and regular meeting for them is badly needed to implement MSP in Bangladesh. Short term and long term
monitoring can be implemented for monitoring ecosystem components in Bangladesh’s maritime area. Marine
Spatial Planning and Blue Economy related previous papers(2011-2020) has been reviewed in this study to give
perfect guidelines for policy-makers, researchers and concerned individuals to know about the prospects, challenges
and mitigation measures of MSP implementation in Bangladesh. This paper will be an important information hub
about MSP in Bangladesh.