Coastal Management Plans - Regional Directorate for Maritime Policies

In the Azores archipelago, integrated coastal management is of strategic importance for economic and social development, given the coexistence of many activities focusing on the islands’ coastline, as illustrated by the peripheral distribution of the conurbations.

In the current legal system, coastal planning and management takes place in the Coastal Ordenamento Plans (POOC), which are regulatory instruments of a special nature which bind public authorities and individuals and have a higher hierarchy than municipal land-use plans. In the Azores, the initiative and competence for its preparation is conferred on the regional administration, in particular the Regional Secretariat for Natural Resources.

See below for the state of implementation of these instruments in the Region.