Facilitating the ecosystem-based management transition in Aotearoa New Zealand

In response to growing social and ecological pressures, ecosystem-based management (EBM) has been proffered as an alternative governance regime for marine and coastal systems in Aotearoa New Zealand. The challenge of how to engender a transition to EBM remains, however. This paper investigates the proposition that Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) can be a tool to drive the EBM transition by analysing the ocean and marine governance transition in Kaikōura over the past 20 years. The findings suggest that taking a top-down MSP approach to governance can crowd out some of the principles of EBM, but MSP can support the implementation of EBM principles if sufficient attention is given to developing institutions and processes that prioritise local decision-making and provide sufficient support for ongoing engagement and participation by local actors.