Managing Marine and Coastal Information in the UK: where Are We Now?

Jule E. Harries, Frances L. Franklin

Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Burnham-on-Crouch Essex (UK)

One of the keynote lectures at CoastGIS'99 was called 'Mapping the future of the United Kingdom". This provided an overview of the situation regarding the management of coastal and marine geographic information in the UK at that time and looked towards how this would be carried forward into the new millennium. This paper provides an update on what has happened in the intervening four years, and explores the challenges to be faced in setting up a harmonised national marine information system