TITLE:
Validating Governance Performance Indicators for Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management in the Southeast Region of Cuba
AUTHORS:
Fajardo José Abelardo Planas, Batista Celene Milanés, Lucia M. Fanning, Camilo Mateo Botero
KEYWORDS:
Governance, Planning Instruments, Integrated Coastal Zone Management, Southeast Cuba
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Marine Science,
Vol.6 No.1,
January
12,
2016
ABSTRACT: The importance of
evaluating the success of policies developed to effectively manage coastal and
marine resource use is well documented. However, few frameworks exist that
allow for a comparative examination of existing policy instruments, as opposed
to specific initiatives, which assess governance performance aimed at
addressing issues arising in the coastal zone. This paper describes the process
and findings for evaluating the feasibility of a modified Coastal
Sustainability Standard (CoSS) framework that seeks to measure the
effectiveness of individual planning instruments within overlapping spatial
boundaries in the landward and marine areas in the southeast region of Cuba.
Through workshops conducted in Santiago de Cuba and Guamá municipalities with
key representatives involved in coastal management and planning, the utility of
the framework was assessed using the main instruments of territorial planning
in Cuba, namely integrated river basin management, territorial planning in
coastal municipalities and marine and coastal management. While, the findings
suggest that the modified CoSS framework can be used to assess the
effectiveness of these planning instruments in the region, and workshop
participants also suggested improvements to better match its use to the
characteristics of the study region.