The importance of public policy for Blue Amazon marine spatial planning

Abstract

The establishment of policies relevant to the oceanic area in Brazil aims to guide the rational planning of resources of marine space (Blue Amazon), ensuring the quality of coastal population life and the effective protection of ecosystems and resources within it. Therefore, it appears as a major factor in the formalization of coastal and marine policies and, especially, in the training of human resources to work in the area. The concern of political regulation of the Brazilian government with the use of marine resources and coastal areas emerged in the 1970s, parallel to the emergence of an environmental viewpoint in state planning held in the country. The Special Department of Environment of the Presidency was created in 1973, which was a significant milestone in its institutional history. A year later, the Inter-Ministerial Commission of Sea Resources was created, aimed at coordinating issues that would lead to a national policy for the coastal region of Brazil. However, only with the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil ratified in 1988, and with the ratification of the country to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1994, did the legal issues related to marine environment areas take form and effect.