The Process of Identification and Selection of Coastal-Marine Protected Areas According to the Criteria of the World Conservation Union

Coastal areas being linked to sea and land are biologically rich and diverse compared to marine and land systems individually. However, the living organisms in these areas are exposed to a number of deteriorating pollutants from both systems. Direct discharge of pollutants from streams, surface run off and drainage from remote areas and industrial and municipal waste waters and many other pollutants from vessels could be listed as threatening factors in these areas. In addition, due to the pressure from human population this trend is worsening. Sustainable use of resources depends on consideration of the fact that some areas, particularly the remarkable formations along the coast should be kept naturally or at least strictly protected. The protection of marine biomes and their genetic diversity including all astonishing attributes of coastal-marine areas should come under the classification of world union of protection and managed with appropriate degrees of protection. The process of identification and selection of coastal- marine protected areas could be a part of land/sea use planning which have some common aspects. The difference between the planning for land and marine areas is that in land systems the planning is more extensive and the surrounding areas are also taken into account, whereas in marine areas, the protected area is a part of planning process and must be weighed according to the criteria of the world conservation union regarding the protected zones. Afterwards, methods such as Delphi can be used to control the entire process and select the optimum area for protection. Then, the planning process over the site is conducted. The four steps for selecting a protected area are collection or generation of data, data analysis, and synthesis of findings and application of the criteria in the selection process.