A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM IN ICZM FOR PROTECTING THE ECOSYSTEMS: INTEGRATION WITH THE HABITAT DIRECTIVE
Leonardo Marotta, Entropia Snc, via Corridoni 3, I-62019, Recanati, leonardo.marotta@entropia-env.it
Luigi Ceccaroni, Departament de Llenguatges i Sistemes Inform?tics (LSI), Universitat Polit?cnica de Catalunya (UPC), Edif. Omega, C. Jordi Girona, 1-3, 08034 Barcelona, Spain; luigi@lsi.upc.edu
Gabriele Matteucci, Istituto di Ricerca Gruppo CSA SpA, gmatteucci@csaricerche.com
Paolo Rossini, Istituto di Ricerca Gruppo CSA SpA, prossini@csaricerche.com
Stefano Guerzoni, CNR-ISMAR, Castello 1364/A, Venezia (Italy), s.guerzoni@ismar.cnr.it

The integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) and Habitat directives have the common task, among others, to develop a strategy for the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of the ecosystems in coastal regions. Multiple criteria are needed for management purposes, given that this task entails the following aspects: investigation, assessment and comparison of a range of options for managing human use of coastal resources; collection of these options into feasible portfolios for regional scenarios; assessment and comparison of these scenarios in order to determine the most appropriate regional balance between conservation and other factors; establishment of a follow-up system (including monitoring) for ICZM; creation of an off-set system for biodiversity. The use of a coastal decision support system to assess the various scenarios, build appropriate ecosystem management plans, and carry out simulation analyses will help stakeholders to visualize the long-term outcomes of their decisions and help to build a consensus. Examples derived from coastal systems in the Adriatic Sea (Italy) are presented.