Integrated land-sea conservation planning case studies

Spatial management, including setting aside conservation areas, is central to curbing the global decline of biodiversity, but many threats originate from beyond the boundaries of conservation areas. This is a particular problem in marine systems, which are influenced by many activities on land. In addition, connections between land and sea support many species and ecological processes valued for conservation. Integrated land-sea conservation planning incorporates ecological connections between land and sea and seeks to limit land-based threats to coastal-marine ecosystems, while achieving conservation objectives on the land. We reviewed 25 case studies that followed a land-sea planning approach, including considerations of land-sea processes (natural flows occurring between realms), cross-system threats (threats originating in one realm and affecting another), and socioeconomic interactions associated with management decisions to maintain or restore land-sea processes and to prevent or mitigate cross-system threats. This dataset summarizes selected elements of land-sea planning case studies.