Addressing cumulative effects in marine management decisions

Cumulative effects need to be urgently addressed to halt the degradation of our marine ecosystems and the decline in services ecosystems provide. The costs of environmental degradation are significant – with impacts to cultural, social, and recreational values, risks to fishery and tourism industries, and the risk of failure to meet national and international obligations.

Moving away from managing activities and stressors in isolation to using an ecological footprint approach is essential. We can achieve better marine outcomes by introducing a decision-making approach that assesses and manages cumulative effects more effectively.