Integrated framework of institutional analysis towards and development on effective marine spatial planning in Malaysia

Abstract

Marine spatial planning is defined as a set of processes that govern the spatial activities among the marine institutions that contribute to effective governance of marine spaces. There are five established components of effective marine spatial planning practices namely institutions involvement; capacity, learning and awareness; leadership and communication; evidence and uncertainty, and land-sea coordination. While marine spatial planning is important for centralized marine spatial governance, Malaysia still lacks policy on interactions among marine institutions, especially on the development of an effective spatial plan or marine spatial planning. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a framework of institutional analysis that could contribute towards effective practice of marine spatial planning for Malaysia. The mixed method approach is used which includes the distribution of semi-structured questionnaire to 45 respondents from Technical Committee and telephone interview with eight respondents from the Implementer Committee of Semporna Marine Spatial Planning Committee. The proposed framework is then validated based on experts’ opinions generated from the semi-structured questionnaire. Findings show that there is a positive correlation agreement on the components of effective marine spatial planning practice: institutions involvement (r=0.908), capacity, learning and awareness (r=0.833), leadership and communication (r=0.839), evidence and uncertainty (r=0.823), and land-sea coordination (r=0.926). The respondents also recognize that environmental preservation is an important component for an effective marine spatial plan. The validation of the findings reveals that each component is significantly reliable (a=0.834) for Malaysian marine spatial planning practice. The result on extending the institutional analysis framework into the marine spatial planning practice shows an emphasis on seven rules i.e. position rules, boundary rules, choice rules, aggregation rules, information rules, payoff rules, and scope rules, all of which explain the organizational behaviour among the Implementer Committee for Malaysia Marine Spatial Planning. The result also indicates that there are five initial plans (Biodiversity Conservation, Tourism, Mariculture, Fisheries and Culture & Heritage) developed by the committee. The rules perspectives from the findings are valuable for a new proposed framework of policy formation towards Malaysian Marine Spatial Planning.